The Welsh Girl – Peter Ho Davies

Peter Ho Davies'
The Welsh Girl was a book that I picked up on a three for two offer when buying something else. I read the cover and wasn't too sure about it at first, and to be honest that was a feeling that continued through much of the book and I only felt like I'd really got into it in the last 100 pages or so.

There are two threads that seem to run through much of the book. They come together, just, but it was one of the threads that I enjoyed much more than the other one. Firstly we meet Captain Rotheram, a Jewish refugee working for British Intelligence during WW2. He is responsible for trying to interrogate Rudolf Hess. At the same time we also meet some of the German men who have been brought to a prison camp in a remote part of Snowdonia.

In parallel with this we meet some of the villagers who live in the nearest village to the prison camp. These villagers have taken in some evacuee children from English cities, but they still remain very sceptical about the English, especially those that are soldiers at the local camp. One of them is seventeen year old Esther Evans. She is the daughter of a miner turned farmer and works as a bar maid in the local pub. Her English skills mean that she is called to serve the English soldiers that come into the pub.

It was the thread of this story that followed Esther than I enjoyed the most. I'm always fascinated to learn about the lives of women who remained at home during the war. As the woman of the house Esther is left to run the house, look after her father and the young evacuee that lives with them. At the same time she has her own problems and emotional challenges to content with. 

The villagers soon come into contact with some of the prisoners from the camp and it's interesting to watch how some of their views of these Germans change over time. 

It's a bit strange, but some of the parts of the books relating to Rotheram just didn't quite seem to gel with the other threads of the story. Almost to the extent that I felt you could remove some of them without missing much. Or maybe I'm missing something in thinking that. If you get the opportunity I'd certainly recommend reading this book – it also taught me quite a lot about the role of Wales in the war.