How Green Was My Valley

How Green Was My Valley is a novel of 1939, by the author Richard Llewellyn. The author's claims to have based it on his own knowledge of the Gilfach Goch area were proven false, as Llewellyn was English-born and spent little time in Wales, but gathered his facts from conversations with local mining families. The title of the novel is taken from its last sentence: How green was my valley then, and the valley of them that have gone. 

  How Green Was My Valley Easton Press Edition

 

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How Green Was My Valley plot summary

The novel tells the story of the Morgans, a poor but respectable mining family of the South Wales valleys, through the eyes of the youngest son, Huw Morgan. Huw's academic ability sets him apart from his elder brothers and enables him to consider a future away from this troubled industrial environment. His four brothers and his father are miners; after the eldest brother, Ifor, is killed in an industrial accident, Huw moves in with his sister-in-law, Bronwen, with whom he is secretly in love. Later, Huw's father is also killed in the mine. Meanwhile, Huw's only sister, Angharad, catches the eye of a wealthy coal-owner, but the marriage is an unhappy one and she enters into a clandestine relationship with the local minister. The death of Huw's father, coupled with the realisation that Bronwen has no romantic interest in him, causes him to leave the valley. In the sequels to the novel, Huw emigrates and makes a new life in Patagonia.

Full of memorable characters, richly crafted language, and surprising humor, How Green Was My Valley is the first of four books chronicling Huw’s life, including the sequels Up into the Singing Mountain, Down Where the Moon is Small, and Green, Green My Valley Now.

Characters

Gwilym Morgan
Beth Morgan
Ivor Morgan
Ianto Morgan
Davy Morgan
Gwilym Morgan
Owen Morgan
Huw Morgan, the Narrator
Ceridwen Morgan
Angharad Morgan
Olwen Morgan

Sequels

Up into the Singing Mountain (1960) - Huw emigrates to Argentina
Down Where the Moon is Small (1966) - Huw's life in Arentina
Green, Green My Valley Now (1975) - Huw returns to Wales

 

Source and additional information: How Green Was My Valley