From the acclaimed writer Peter Ho Davies comes an engrossing wartime love story set in the stunning landscape of North Wales during the final, har...
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Dec 17, 2009
Tracy
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I loved this book. It was a little slow going at first and the first 20-30 pages I had to half-push myself into. Then I got caught up in the story. The language used is beautiful, some sentences so perfect they hurt, but at the same time it doesn't distract at *all* from the story being told. This is a book I read at first primarily for the story and now I want to reread again for the subtle nuances I missed. But it makes me think and it makes me happy and I love the characters - not just h
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Apr 14, 2011
SarahC
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This novel is about conflicts of nation, loyalty, and identity. Novels trying to construct this kind of story sometimes become cliche, but this one has a very sincere tone that is refreshing. English intelligence officer Rotherham has trouble dealing with his German Jewish heritage. A German officer surrenders under heavy fire, is sent to a camp in Wales, and begins to see the uncertainties of his life overall. A young Welsh woman wonders where the definitions are set - enemy? traitor? fatherlan
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Jun 26, 2007
Jim
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Peter Ho Davies’ debut novel, The Welsh Girl, is an historical fiction set in the latter half of World War II in a remote village in Wales. The construction of a secret camp causes much excitement in the village, particularly for Esther, a young barmaid who has fallen for one of the English soldiers tasked with building the camp. The dalliance is particularly volatile because Esther’s father is a staunch Nationalist who views the English as nothing more than Anglo oppressors. Esther’s solider, C
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Feb 06, 2012
Cassie (C.M.W.)
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The Welsh Girl
Peter Ho Davies
2008
NUTSHELL: Two plots - one plot = enough plot. This one's more of a 5.
Who's the Welsh Girl? That would be Esther Evans, living in Wales in the 1940s. Her sweetheart's off to war and she and her father have an evacuee child. Esther also works as a barmaid in town.
What's her plot? <spoiler>She falls in love with a prisoner of war named Karsten.
But that's not so awful. Um. World War II? And the POW is German?
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Peter Ho Davies
2008
NUTSHELL: Two plots - one plot = enough plot. This one's more of a 5.
Who's the Welsh Girl? That would be Esther Evans, living in Wales in the 1940s. Her sweetheart's off to war and she and her father have an evacuee child. Esther also works as a barmaid in town.
What's her plot? <spoiler>She falls in love with a prisoner of war named Karsten.
But that's not so awful. Um. World War II? And the POW is German?
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Nov 28, 2011
Amanda
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I generally enjoyed the story, and was pleased at how well-rounded the major characters were. It was nice to get a perspective from both sides of the War; to see how both sides viewed themselves as well as the enemy, and to watch them eventually come to see the enemy as just as human as they are.
I think this is the sort of book that will mean different things to different people, and that I will perhaps get something different out of it, if I come back to it in a few years. I enjoy More...
I think this is the sort of book that will mean different things to different people, and that I will perhaps get something different out of it, if I come back to it in a few years. I enjoy More...
Nov 11, 2010
Beni
rated it:
A warts and all depiction of small town welsh mountain life in the second world war. Great novel - but his short stories are better.He is interested in identity and barriers between races (not surprising, as a welsh chinese writer brought up in England). In The Welsh Girl, barriers between races keep on crumbling. He got interested when he discovered that in real life, several German prisoners stayed on in Wales after the war and married local girls. I know a few stories like this from the part
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Jan 21, 2010
Sammy
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Interesting. Unique. Holds it's own in such a full library of World War II historical fiction. It really is different from a lot of other WWII stories out there, which I really appreciated and kept me reading. It was also his writing that kept me truly engaged. I can't even put my finger on it, but something sucked me into this book and kept me there until suddenly I turned the last page, looked up and wondered where the time had gone.
A couple of times I think Davies lost control of More...
A couple of times I think Davies lost control of More...
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Jan 10, 2010
Lydia
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The Welsh Girl is a story in three parts. There's the story of Rotheram, the German-Jew who escaped from Germany to England and is now placed in charge of the interrogation of Hess. There's also the story of Karsten, a young 18 year old German officer who surrenders to the British and is taken to a POW camp in Northern Wales. And then, there's Esther - a 17 year old Welsh barmaid who lives in the sleepy Welsh town the POW camp has been built in.
The book is beautifully written. Th More...
The book is beautifully written. Th More...
Jun 23, 2009
Colleen
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 25, 2011
Ellen
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Peter Ho Davies's novel The Welsh Girl is an expansion of his story "Think of England," one of the best from The Best American Short Stories 2001. Davies's story, about a Welsh girl whose schoolgirl English has gotten her a job serving soldiers the "English" side of a bar in her town during World War II, works better than many stories in the anthology because it never strives too hard to force the reader to a conclusion.Davies suggests the oddness of Esther's position and the
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Dec 10, 2010
Kirsty
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This was a great book that I raced through and couldn't put down. I've read about a hundred good reviews of it and no one seems to have a bad word to say about it - at this point I would be disappointed if it doesn't at least make the shortlist. It's the third book I've read from this year's longlist, and so far it's my favourite.
The setting is the end of the second world war, the location is a small remote village in Wales and the central character is really Esther, the Welsh girl of the titl
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Aug 03, 2009
Erin
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This book is set in a small Welsh village in the final months of World War II. Esther, a local teenager, has seen the war impact her little town. A childhood friend goes off to fight, she becomes romantically involved with a British soldier and befriends a German POW who is imprisoned at a local camp. The story is told from varying points of view, not only Esther's. Karsten, the German POW, recalls his surrender to Allied troops on a besieged beach and shares memories of his submariner fathe
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Dec 30, 2009
Amanda
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between my flight out to California on Thursday and my flight home today, I read THREE BOOKS! Hooray! First up: The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies. Davies lives and works right here in my town - so I'm thinking local - and The Welsh Girl is his first novel, although he's written some acclaimed short stories and poems. Well, I liked the meat of The Welsh Girl, but it had a prologue and an epilogue that I didn't really love. They were completely necessary to tell the story, to provice nice booken
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Jul 25, 2011
Diane16
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An extremely interesting book that weaves together the lives of three Europeans during the end of World War II: a young Welsh woman, an English interrogator who grew up in Germany, and a German prisoner. I enjoyed the historical scenes in the book, even the gruesome D-day description, because I never had imagined it from the soliders' perspectives. I also did not know the depth of the relationship and the past problems between the Welsh people and the English. The main characters in the book, es
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Feb 20, 2011
Lawrence -ISB
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 05, 2009
Peter Ho Davies's two short-story collections, Equal Love and The Ugliest House in the World, met with critical acclaim, and reviewers generally enjoyed his first novel as well. Yet while they praised the book's complicated character portraits and its complex themes, many felt that the Rotheram-Hess subplot, while fascinating, was tangential to the novel's main triangle. And, despite the title, Esther does not appear to be the novel's protagonist. Perhaps the troubles begin with the prologue, in
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Feb 17, 2010
Jackie
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I always hesitate to read WWII books or any books on war for that matter. I always think they are going to be depressing, dry or too violent, but usually I’m pleasantly surprise when I take the time to read one. The Welsh Girl was one of those that pleasantly surprised me.
The first couple of pages (prologue) were a bit dry, but I was glad that I pushed through it because I discovered a gem when I got to Esther’s perspective of the story. The book follows the perspective of three char More...
The first couple of pages (prologue) were a bit dry, but I was glad that I pushed through it because I discovered a gem when I got to Esther’s perspective of the story. The book follows the perspective of three char More...
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Mar 02, 2009
C(h)ristine
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I bought this book more than a year ago. And I’d pick it up to read, then put it back down, pick it up again, then put it back down. I just wasn’t that intrigued by the subject matter (World War II) or by the opening lines–and I’d keep picking it up because I LOVE Peter Ho Davies’ work. He is a tremendous short story writer whose prose is amazing and who in real life is super gracious and charming. But I kept giving the book a chance and eventually I picked it up to read. It was a bit tedious at
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Dec 15, 2010
Veronica
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I did like this book; it was a worthwhile read, but not five-star for me (I'd give it three and a half if I could). Very subtle and understated, it requires attention to pick up all the interlinked themes of identity, belonging, truth and lies, courage, cowardice. Parts of it were beautifully evocative, and the characters felt real. Don't read it if you want an all-action war story; this book is all about atmosphere and emotion.
But. As a lot of reviews have said, the subplot of Rothe More...
But. As a lot of reviews have said, the subplot of Rothe More...
Mar 04, 2008
Kristine
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Well-written, cinematically rendered WWII novel of interwoven stories of a 17-year-old Welsh barmaid and daughter of a sheep rancher, a German POW who surrendered, and a British interrogator who is a German Jew. Very interesting exploration of cowardice, pride, dislocation, and nationalism with well fleshed-out characters and vivid scenes.
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Jun 01, 2009
Heather
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This book literally took my breath away a few times. The story takes place in a small Welsh village in September 1944 amidst the convergence of German POWs, English army officers, Welsh-speaking villagers, and a German Jew working for the British who has been assigned to interrogate Rudolf Hess. It is an absolutely lyrical exploration of nationalism, duty, and loss of identity, which all of the characters are experiencing at the same time in very different ways, whether they call it Vaterland,
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Aug 10, 2011
Candace
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I didn't like this book. There were too many parts that should have been explained more, or gone into more detail, and didn't. And too many parts were the details given were more than enough, and not needed! I found myself confused in some parts, and over all looking forward to the end hoping it would all come together. However when I got to the end it felt like someone had ripped out the last 3 chapters of my book! It was completly unresolved, and not only did it feel like it was missing chapte
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Jan 04, 2011
Annika
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When I picked this book up, it immediately intrigued me. Beginning with a German-Jew, Rotheram, who escaped Germany to Great Britain and now, interrogates German Prisoners. With that sort of beginning how can it not draw you in? Then, we jump to a small town in Wales, where the British are building a prison for German POW's and we meet Esther. Who is a bright Welsh girl, who dreams of leaving their small village and doing more with her life than raising sheep. But then becomes entangled
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Jul 09, 2010
Alison
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I found this rather disappointing. I felt the story of Esther and Karsten a little predictable and underwhelming. At one point, after her rape by Colin I thought, "if she ends up pregnant, I'll scream" and sure enough, she was. Then I thought, she's going to pretend it's Rhys's baby - and guess what, she did! I also thought the story of Rotheram was a bit superfluous to the overall; though I thought it interesting it felt it was a bit "tacked on". The ending was a littl
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Aug 26, 2009
Holly
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I wish I could give this book 3.5 stars. Why can't we do 1/2 stars? Ayway it is set is Wales just before D-day. Davies weaves 3 stories into one. An translator/interrogator, a German POW and a young Welch barmaid. The main themes are identity, alienation and belonging. cynefin is the welsh term that Davies uses throughout the book. There is not supposed to be an Englilsh word for it. It is one's place in life, where you belong, your roots so to speak. Esther the young barmaid seems to have most
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Jun 29, 2007
Jane
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I loved the story line about Rotherham, the interrogator of Hess. Esther's conflicts, however, seemed to be a story I've already read in another novel (in many other novels?), dressed up in beautiful language.
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Mar 23, 2011
Caroline
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I wanted to like this book, but the truth is, it just bored me. I couldn't see the point of it. It didn't seem to be about anything. I know some people might say I've missed the point of it or it's about a place and a moment in time, but I just look at all the praise it's garnered and wonder if they're talking about a different book. It's very well-written but it's just too sterile, too clinical. I never really felt anything about any of the characters and some of them I couldn't see the point o
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Jan 06, 2009
Bibliophile
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Feb 22, 2010
Barner
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A good friend who is wintering in Florida sent me this novel: she found it at a garage sale and knows I am planning a trip to Wales and thought it timely. This is a good book! It takes place during, following WWII in NORTh Wales, the name places are familiar and the feelings described by the countryside are convincing. The characteers vary from small town Welch citizens to English troops to the Germans who are kept in a POW camp near Esther's farm. Even Rudolf Hess is one of the characte
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Dec 01, 2008
Chris
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I liked this book a lot, and if I could have given it 4.5 stars, I would have done so. The Welsh Girl is an evocative coming-of-age story set in Wales during WWII, in which Esther, a seventeen-year-old, becomes deeply invovled with a German POW. The main themes of the novel have to do with identity, belonging and alienation. Davies does a good job of developing the characters and vividly describing the landscape. I particularly liked how he explored and developed the concept of cynefin, a Welsh
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