Second Penguin Book of Welsh Short Stories

by Alun Richards (Editor)

Originally published as: The new Penguin book of Welsh short stories. London : Viking, 1993

This collection offers 24 short stories, written by and about Welsh people.

Genres: Short Stories

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Alun Richards (1929-2004) was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, with a fondness for rugby union.

Reviews

[Gretchen Bernet-Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-four short stories from Wales which I read during March 2021 for Wales Readathon, Dewithon21. The book says '...powerful and moving insights into the nature of the people' and this is true. The calibre and wisdom of these short stories blew me away, the people of Wales and the understated passion they have for their country shines through in emotional yet precisely documented stories of their era. I was drawn into their despair and great joy of everyday life, studied and examined but never artificial. Everyone has something going on deep in the recesses of their mind, pay attention, read and be absorbed.

The story which touched me the most is ‘The Squire of Havilah’ by T. Hughes Jones. Behind the tale, behind the words is a great depth of understanding about a man most of us would have met or seen once and possibly dismissed from our mind. Daniel Jones, a 40-year-old bachelor of Rhos-y-grug, is a misjudged man who, in himself, is hopeful for the future. After being deceived and flimflammed at a fair into paying for the deeds to twenty acres of rich mineral land in Havilah, supposedly in Mesopotamia (Iraq), Jones dreams the life of a prosperous man. A lesson of hope lurks behind the words, misplaced but powerful.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant selection of short stories. No duffers!