The Welsh Girl

Critics

• A Chinese Welshman in the USA

  Growing up in the mid-Seventies, Peter Ho Davies felt both rather exotic and terribly parochial. The child of a Welsh father and Malay-Chinese mother, he stood out in his hometown of Coventry. 'I was one of only a handful of Asian children in my scho ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• Forms of belonging

  The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies 338pp, Sceptre, £12.99 Peter Ho Davies's first novel is set in 1944, as the second world war grinds through its final year. But of course his characters don't know that they are within sight of the finishing-post. In ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

• 

  Set in the final months of WW2, there are three main threads to the story. Rotheram, a German refugee, assists British Intelligence by interviewing POWs, Karsten, a young patriotic German soldier, who surrenders in Northern France and Esther, the teenage daughter of a shepherd. All the threads come ... (continue)

  Set in the final months of WW2, there are three main threads to the story. Rotheram, a German refugee, assists British Intelligence by interviewing POWs, Karsten, a young patriotic German soldier, who surrenders in Northern France and Esther, the teenage daughter of a shepherd. All the threads come together in a small North Wales community. The book is well researched and beautifully written and the story flows well. Many themes are explored - patriotism, nationalism, racism, identity - but none are laboured. Another recurring theme is the sense of belonging - "cynefin" - passed down through the maternal line of sheep. Very atmospheric although a bit slow in some points.

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  Lunarossa said on Jan 25, 2010 | Add your feedback

• 

  Exile, surrender, invasion

  Jews and Germans and Welsh and Englishmen brought together by the Second World War.

  The shame of rape, of surrender, of being a Jew and the bonds that tie us to family, country and fellow men, and the role of language and a foreign language

  beautifully written lyrical novel.

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  fran_ces said on Jul 15, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  Poignant analysis of identity and nationalism, setting was WWII but the questions asked are (or should be) equally applicable to the modern age.

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  Fay Ng said on Nov 21, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (8)
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• English Books
• Paperback 352 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0340938277
• ISBN-13: 9780340938270
• Publisher: Sceptre
• Pub date: Dec 27, 2007
• Also available as: Hardcover and eBook

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