Customer Reviews

The Welsh Girl

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This gem of a novel is not designed for those who prefer action books with linear plots; it's as real as life itself. From the start, I believed in these characters -- Esther, the Welsh girl...Karstan, the German POW...Jim, the young English boy.

The Welsh Girl can be read in so many different ways: as a story of connections that span boundaries and defy expectations. Or it can be read as a novel of identity. Peter Ho Davies write: "We have something in common, you and I. The same dilemma. Are we who we think we are, or who others judge us to be? A question of will, perhaps."

By the end of the novel, each character will wrestle with this question. The POW will learn the true meaning of "to surrender." The young English boy will find out what "courage" is all about. And the Welsh girl, at the center, will discover about cynefin -- a Welsh quality that has no English translation, but loosely translates to the flock knowing its place. And each will define himself or herself further by comparison with a presumed dead Welsh soldier, whose identity seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

I was enchanted by this novel, the first by the author of Equal Love, a fine short story collection. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly for true readers who are fascinated with love, family, loyalty, and national identity.

One of the greatest accomplishments of this novel is the way it beautifully and convincingly--and with the compassion others have mentioned here--evokes and channels the female experience, granting it true complexity. This isn't something we've seen in the historical fiction of the men of previous generations, and is just a part of the great feat of imagination that makes this novel such a success.

It took me over a month to read "The Welsh Girl" - and I'm not sure why. I know I am in the minority in my lukewarm reception of this book (please see "Long-listed for Man Booker Prize"). It's certainly not as if the characters were not well drawn, the time and place carefully crafted, the story less than compelling...and yet...and yet.

I suppose the best way to describe my hesitation with this book is that I always felt as arms length. Even when inside the thoughts and hearts of Esther, Karsten and Rotherham...I felt as if the essence of what they were thinking and feeling were closed off. I didn't FEEL their feelings, didn't SEE what they were seeing...

That being said, it is undeniable that this novel, set during World War II in North Wales, is beautifully crafted. The descriptions of time and place were excellent; the characters seem ones transported in time for the reader to meet.

There were parts that I couldn't help but read twice - parts that broke through the fourth wall for me.

"...his progress reminds Esther of how the dogs part a flock. Sheepish, she thinks. The villagers feel sheepish. The word appears before her in her own flowing copperplate. She's been having these spells lately when words, English words, seem newly coined, as if they're speaking to her alone, as if she's seeing the meanings behind them. She's conscious of her lips, her tongue, forming them."

And there are moments when I can see the village so clearly that I feel I am truly there. "Within the fence, the faces of the Germans and MPs turn up to the slope to where the villagers stand. Hands are angled to shield eyes against the sun; arms are lifted, pointing. Esther finds herself blushing, embarrassed to be caught staring, but even as she turns away, Mott, at her feet, lifts his head and offers a long howl of replay to the snapping dogs below."

I've gone over and over that paragraph and I can't put my finger on it...but something about those words take me there - I can feel the sun on my face, making me squint...I can see the prisoners pointing up, I can hear the dog and I can smell grass and animals nearby.

And there are some small moments when the thin wall cracks and I can feel the emotions of the characters.

"He was serious, Karsten saw, the answer deeply important to him. For just a moment, he wanted to cry yes! and have done with it. For just a moment, he could feel the cool relief of admitting it, even to this child. He was almost certain the boy would rather have his friend alive and a coward than brave and dead. All he had to do was say it. Yet something inside him recoiled. Some pride, some recollection of those dreadful steps down the passage out of the bunker."

There I am able to feel those tightly wound emotions straining to explode - I can feel the pulse of the story. And once more with Esther:

"Esther looks at her through her tears and nods slowly. She does have hope, she realizes. All this time she's thought Rhys dead, and now she hopes, prays, that he is."

Maybe because these characters, in the short period of time when their lives intersect, live in circumstances where they cannot give reign to their emotions, cannot let their guard down for even a moment - maybe that is the distance I feel from their story.

This tale of bravery and defeat, of cowardice and unacknowledged heroism, is one I wanted to appreciate more. But maybe, this is one of those books where when read again, at a different point in my life, will have a greater impact.

The Welsh Girl is a novel set in Wales during the last days of WWII. Its themes concern the meaning of nationality and the concept of betrayal. Let me say it is a lovely, thought provoking book about memorable characters with whom it is easy to empathizise; of recently read novels, it comes closest to Cold Mountain (Frazier) in its reflection on war and how war effects ordinary men and women. However, it is not nearly as graphically violent. The Welsh Girl is a quiet novel inviting the reader to reflect on the meaning of national identity and the concept of betrayal.
Toward the end of WWII, the British build a POW camp in a small Welsh village. The Welsh feel insulted by this, as they do by the very presence of the English. After all, it is the English who have attempted to deny the Welsh both their language and their culture. In fact, throughout the novel, the Welsh struggle with who to view as the greater enemy - the British or the Germans. Esther is a young woman caught in the tangled loyalties of the time. Wooed by native Welsh boys of her community, she finds them too limiting; attracted to the more worldly English soldiers, she finds herself betrayed; falling in love with the German POW, she is at a loss on how to reconcile this with the reality of life after the war.
Author Davies also explores the relationship of young men to family and cultural expectations during war. Karsten, the young German POW, struggles with his surrender to the British forces. Was this a betrayal of his loyalty not only to his country but to his family's view of what a soldier should be? His father was a submarine soldier killed during WWI. What was the truth behind his father's views on war? How will his mother react to Karsten's surrender? Is it better to die for the cause? Most complex are the issues of nationality and loyalty to Rotheram. Rotheram's father, also killed during WWI, was Jewish. His mother was German Lutheran. Rotheram, who never knew his father, thought of himself as German Lutheran. At the beginning of the war, the power of the Nazi party held a strong attraction to him as it did for many young people. Rotheram felt himself betrayed on many levels - and yet ultimately felt the most free at the end of the war for the very reason that he was no longer tied to any nationality. He had been equally scorned by all. He no longer had a Fatherland or a Mother tongue.*
What role does language play in our cultural identity? Can we tell by looking at someone what their national identity is? (Karsten agonizes over the fact that Jewish people are supposed to be the "other" according to Nazi policy and to his mother's beliefs and yet he cannot "see" the difference; Rotheram assumes the Welsh bartender refuses serving him because he is Jewish, but in fact it is because the bartender "sees" him as English).
The author does justice to even the most minor characters - each add a significant voice to the themes of the novel. At some point during the reading I felt the walls of the novel expand way beyond the setting of WWII to our present day. "Fear will make you believe anything," said a character ...and yet what are the consequences of that? Today?

--or so ran the blurb inside the jacket referencing Davies' "all encompassing empathy." I will say that I don't think either phrase is copy editor hyperbole. While I admired the sympathetic voice the male author gave the title character, I was particularly impressed with how he handled the German characters: Rotheram, Karsten, and even Rudolf Hess. They were fully fleshed-out and fully human, and as much as I enjoyed the chapters that focused on Esther's storyline (once I recovered from my initial disgruntlement that the novel is written in the present tense), I found myself looking forward to getting back to the interogator and the POW.

The biggest selling point for me wasn't the plot, which has been summarized well in the official reviews, although I found seeing WWII from a Welsh perspective quite interesting. What I found most enchanting about the novel was the symbolism, and I hope that doesn't scare anyone away, because Davies doesn't drop anvils on you, he just slides things in matter-of-factly. Initial concepts like freedom, capture, surrender, prisoner, enemy, ewe, lamb, and even the verb "welsh" are introduced in their literal sense, but by the end of the novel, you can see how Davies has added and woven layers of meaning and interpretation over time and through different character perspectives. "Cynefin", a sheep's sense of place or belonging, is something Esther tries to escape in the beginning, but is a source of comfort by the end. Rotheram, who struggles with both his personal identity and how others view him, ultimately is liberated by giving up his initial sense of home, and Karsten in the end is pulled back to his place on the mountain.

"The Welsh Girl" isn't action packed, but it is a well-written, insightful "quiet gem".

This was a beautifully written book. I enjoyed the three main characters and the way the author had them eventually intersect with one another. I empathized with each of them. The secondary characters were also well-defined and interesting.

It's always a treat when you read a book you can learn something from. I never knew how the term "welcher" came about until I read this book. I look forward to more from this author.

I bought this book on a whim; prompted by the amazon.com-Gods.

If you know anything about the UK geographical divisions, or even if you have only seen photos of the picturesque countryside, you will be enthralled by this story. If you are intrigued by human stories of WWII, you will be intrigued by this story. If you have ever been misjudged in a situation, you will relate to this story.

Peter Ho Davies creates three characters : they are brought to life by circumstances and his narrative descriptions. You come to appreciate all three for who they are.

It is a page-turner to be sure - as the reader waits to discover how three unlikely people will happen upon one another in a world torn by war, prejudice, hatred, and nationalism.

Although the book has been finished for weeks now, I am still thinking on their fate....

To keep it short, this is the best book I've read in some time...and I read about 3 books a week. I'm looking forward to future works by this very talented writer. In the meanwhile, I'll read his short stories.

A few years ago I came across a short story from a new writer called "The Ugliest House in the World." Set in a small Welsh town, the story was simple, clear, and incredibly moving; I've never forgotten it and I have often wondered if he wrote anything else. Just recently, I read a review of a debut novel by the same author, Peter Ho Davies. Delicate, lyrical, and quiet, the novel slowly opens up and pulls you in. Set in the wanning days of World War II, the story centers around the titular Ethel Evans, a young barmaid who helps her aging father and his flock of sheep, a German P.O.W. named Karsten, and a town of nationalistic Welsh miners, young English evacuees, and a whole community that while on the periphary of war are no doubt touched by it.

The Welsh Girl offers a very unique story. Set during World War II, this novel introduces us to the Welsh countryside where the Welsh struggle with resentment toward both the Germans and the English. The story is told through the eyes of three very different characters. Esther, a 17 year-old Welsh farm girl and part-time barmaid, is attracted to the English soldiers, who she met working at the bar--before the soldiers were banned. While the naturalistic Welsh still view the English with resentment and distrust, she doesn't view them as the enemy. Karsten is a German POW who feel shame for surrendering instead of fighting till death. And finally, Rothertam, a British Captain who resents the fact that is he is thought of first as a Jew and not as a British officer.

This is a thought-provoking book where you might just lose sight whose side you are on. Central themes include national identity, betrayal, and cultural expectations. The story is beautiful and convincing. All the characters struggle with their identity with drastically different results and consequences. It's really hard to describe this story because it's greatness lies in the character development (of even the smallest character), the fluid storytelling, and emotional connection. It is complex without being confusing. Though set during World War II, it is not depressing. However, it is rather deep and perhaps not the best choice if you are looking for a lighter read.