Since Saint David’s Day is in March it feels like the perfect month to celebrate Welsh authors and books set in Wales. I’ve made a list of books in various genres for a range of age groups – including romantasy, literary fiction and children’s books. There’s something for everyone. I don’t think Welsh stories get the same platform as many others and I think it’s important to support local authors and stories that show the history of Wales.
The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire by Anna Fiteni
Blurb:
For Sabrina Parry, the world of her small, Welsh mining town is cruel and practical. Her main aims in life are to hold onto her job, hold her tongue, and marry off her pretty, but sickly sister Ceridwen to a man rich enough to look after her.
When Ceridwen vanishes into the woods leaving only an iron ring behind, it’s up to Sabrina to find her by venturing into Eu Gwald–fairyland.
Sabrina quickly realizes fairyland is far more dangerous than she ever expected. So when a fae prince who considers himself a scholar of all things human offers her a dangerous deal, Sabrina is forced to accept. The prince is charming, and more interested in Sabrina than she is willing to believe. But as always with fairy bargains, there is a cost. And if this bargain doesn’t cost Sabrina her life, it will certainly cost her heart.
Drift by Caryl Lewis
Blurb:
Nefyn has always been an enigma, even to her brother Joseph with whom she lives in a small cottage above a blustery cove.
Hamza is a Syrian mapmaker, incarcerated in a military base a few miles up the coast.
A violent storm will bring these two lost souls together – but other forces will soon try to tear them apart…
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed
Blurb:
Mahmood Mattan is a fixture in Cardiff’s Tiger Bay, 1952, which bustles with Somali and West Indian sailors, Maltese businessmen and Jewish families. He is a father, chancer, some-time petty thief. He is many things, in fact, but he is not a murderer.
So when a shopkeeper is brutally killed and all eyes fall on him, Mahmood isn’t too worried. It is true that he has been getting into trouble more often since his Welsh wife Laura left him. But Mahmood is secure in his innocence in a country where, he thinks, justice is served.
It is only in the run-up to the trial, as the prospect of freedom dwindles, that it will dawn on Mahmood that he is in a terrifying fight for his life – against conspiracy, prejudice and the inhumanity of the state. And, under the shadow of the hangman’s noose, he begins to realise that the truth may not be enough to save him.
The Mabinogion
Blurb:
Drawing on myth, folklore and history, the stories of the Mabinogion passed from generations of storytellers before they were written down in the thirteenth century in the form we know.
Set in dual realms of the forests and valleys of Wales and the shadowy otherworld, the tales are permeated by a dreamlike atmosphere. In ‘Math Son of Mathonwy’ two brothers plot to carry off the virginal Goewin, while in ‘Manawydan Son of Ll^yr’ a chieftain roams throughout Britain after a spell is cast over his land. And King Arthur’s court provides the backdrop to tales such as ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’, in which a young man must complete many tasks before he can marry a giant’s daughter.
The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery
Blurb:
Between bullies at school and changes at home, Charlie Challinor finds life a bit scary. And when he’s made guardian of a furry fox cub called Cadno, things get a whole lot scarier.
Because Cadno isn’t just any fox: he’s a firefox – the only one of his kind – and a sinister hunter from another world is on his trail.
Swept up into an unexpected adventure to protect his flammable friend, Charlie’s going to need to find the bravery he never thought he had, if he’s going to save the last firefox . . .
What are some of your favourite Welsh stories? Let me know in the comments below.
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