Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Sceptre (2007), Paperback, 352 pages
Description
At the height of World War II, a forbidden romance blossoms between seventeen-year-old Esther Evans, the daughter of a Welsh shepherd, and Karsten Simmering, a troubled young German POW, who questions what he has been fighting for.
User reviews
LibraryThing member julie10reads
Near the end of the war, a barmaid in a small village in North Wales is raped by her English boyfriend. To the same village a Jewish officer is dispatched to interview S.S. Officer Rudolph Hess about his part in the Nazi atrocities. Hess claims amnesia. In the nearby countryside an interment camp
Peter Ho Davies’ first novel is a deep study of the bonds of nationalism, loyalty and allies at the human level. The barmaid, Esther, longs to leave her tiny, provincial village and take up service in England. When she goes on a date with an English soldier, you get the feeling that this is a preview of her new life in England. A dream that ends in rape.
Karsten, a German POW, is abused by his fellow officers for surrendering. He escapes, using local barns and sheds as hiding places. Esther brings food to Karsten. It soon becomes obvious that his demeanor is everything the English soldier’s was not. Who is the enemy and who the ally?
The Hess scenes are eerie, chilling. His interrogator plays Nazi propaganda films in which Hess is visible, hoping the prisoner will give himself away. Evasive, Hess comments:
“A film like that does something more important than stir the few, don’t you think? It makes the rest an audience. Passive, you see? You watch a film, you sit in a cinema, you see things, you feel things, but you do nothing.”
And later, he adds:
“That’s the power of film, to draw a line between those who act and those who watch.”
Hess doesn’t crack. He is sent back to Germany where he will later be tried for his war crimes at Nuremberg.
The reader learns that for the Welsh, there’s not much difference between the English and the Germans. So much so that by the end of the book, some of the local girls are marrying the Germans who have asked to stay instead of being repatriated.
ASIDE: Davies gives two explanations of the derivation of the term “to welsh” on someone: he ascribes one to the English who forbade the children to speak their language in school. If a child who was being punished overheard another child speaking Welsh, they could end their punishment early by “welshing” on them, that is, by telling on them.
Not your typical wartime romance, The Welsh Girl portrays an ancient people and landscape whose ways of life are threatened by “friend” and foe alike.
8.5 out of 10 Rich in diverse characters, The Welsh Girl is sure to satisfy fans of literary and historical fiction.
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has been constructed for captured German soldiers.Peter Ho Davies’ first novel is a deep study of the bonds of nationalism, loyalty and allies at the human level. The barmaid, Esther, longs to leave her tiny, provincial village and take up service in England. When she goes on a date with an English soldier, you get the feeling that this is a preview of her new life in England. A dream that ends in rape.
Karsten, a German POW, is abused by his fellow officers for surrendering. He escapes, using local barns and sheds as hiding places. Esther brings food to Karsten. It soon becomes obvious that his demeanor is everything the English soldier’s was not. Who is the enemy and who the ally?
The Hess scenes are eerie, chilling. His interrogator plays Nazi propaganda films in which Hess is visible, hoping the prisoner will give himself away. Evasive, Hess comments:
“A film like that does something more important than stir the few, don’t you think? It makes the rest an audience. Passive, you see? You watch a film, you sit in a cinema, you see things, you feel things, but you do nothing.”
And later, he adds:
“That’s the power of film, to draw a line between those who act and those who watch.”
Hess doesn’t crack. He is sent back to Germany where he will later be tried for his war crimes at Nuremberg.
The reader learns that for the Welsh, there’s not much difference between the English and the Germans. So much so that by the end of the book, some of the local girls are marrying the Germans who have asked to stay instead of being repatriated.
ASIDE: Davies gives two explanations of the derivation of the term “to welsh” on someone: he ascribes one to the English who forbade the children to speak their language in school. If a child who was being punished overheard another child speaking Welsh, they could end their punishment early by “welshing” on them, that is, by telling on them.
Not your typical wartime romance, The Welsh Girl portrays an ancient people and landscape whose ways of life are threatened by “friend” and foe alike.
8.5 out of 10 Rich in diverse characters, The Welsh Girl is sure to satisfy fans of literary and historical fiction.
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LibraryThing member jeniwren
I found this a little slow to start but the latter sections of the novel improved and made for an enjoyable read. It is an interesting story about a group of characters living through war in a small Welsh community with themes explored about identity and patriotism. Esther's story was no doubt a
Overall a book I would recommend and an impressive debut.
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common one during times of war for women left at home and the author has created a likeable and engaging character. Overall a book I would recommend and an impressive debut.
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LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
This story is all about the big issues of courage, loyalty, honor, freedom, identity-- and the Welsh hills in World War II are a perfect setting for exploring them. Not only is the enigmatic Rudolph Hess being held in isolation somewhere out there by the British (was he on a secret mission, or did
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he defect? Is his amnesia real, is he sane enough to stand trial?) but a small nationalist Welsh village comes face to face with the war when a POW camp is constructed nearby to hold German prisoners captured in France during the D-Day invasion, and British soldiers become regulars at the local pub. I began to get a bit bogged down about 2/3 of the way through, feeling that the story line had stalled, that characters and events were mighty predictable, but then it did pick up again. The writing is very good, although with perhaps a bit too much telling and not enough showing. I never quite took any of the characters to heart --they were all believable, but rather flat, somehow. Show Less
LibraryThing member SWilley
I grew up listening to my Welsh mother telling me stories about her farm during WWII. Her family had POW's working on their farms. The Welsh Girl follows that theme. I thought it was a good read, but a bit heavy going at times, it was not what I would call a "page turner". To me the crux of the
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book was the concept of "cynefin" a welsh word for a territorial boundary passed down over 100's of years through female sheep. The sheep don't need a sheperd, they naturally know where they belong. This concept really blew my mind when I thought of how it related to people, and I think that is really what this book is all about. A good, thoughtful read. Show Less
LibraryThing member lonepalm
Slowly building to a moving resolution: A few years ago I came across a short story from a new writer called "The Ugliest House in the World." Set in a small Welsh town, the story was simple, clear, and incredibly moving; I've never forgotten it and I have often wondered if he wrote anything else.
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Just recently, I read a review of a debut novel by the same author, Peter Ho Davies. Delicate, lyrical, and quiet, the novel slowly opens up and pulls you in. Set in the wanning days of World War II, the story centers around the titular Ethel Evans, a young barmaid who helps her aging father and his flock of sheep, a German P.O.W. named Karsten, and a town of nationalistic Welsh miners, young English evacuees, and a whole community that while on the periphary of war are no doubt touched by it. Show Less
LibraryThing member lycomayflower
The Welsh Girl ought to be better than it is. The concept is interesting (the story follows a German in a POW camp in a Welsh town and a girl living in the town) and Peter Ho Davies writes well. But there's nothing terribly compelling about the book. I enjoyed it okay as I was reading but found it
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very easy not to come back to. Nothing ever surprised me in the unfolding of the plot, and that might not always be a criticism--but in the absence of wanting to know the answer to "and then?", I should care deeply for the characters or be enthralled by the language. I was not. As for the structure of the narrative, the switching between Esther's and Karsten's points of view worked well, but the prologue-interlude-epilogue bits too obviously provided an opportunity for a third, more removed character to observe the story and serve as a mouth piece for the novel's ideas. Not a bad read and I will likely read more of Ho Davies's work (though that may be based more an a reading I heard him give a few weeks ago in which I was absolutely captivated by the (as yet unpublished) short story he read), but ultimately somewhat disappointing. Show Less
LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
"Maybe it's a kind of freedom too. To stay home."
Set in a Welsh village during World War II, this novel is centred around a trio of very differing characters. A half-Jewish British military interrogator, who left Germany as a child, a young village girl, raped and impregnated by an English soldier
Rotheram, the interrogator, is ordered to Wales to try and debrief Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, who had mysteriously flown to Britain at the start of the war in an attempt to discern whether the latter is sane enough to stand trial should the Allies’ prove victorious. Hess is generally uncooperative and instead tries to needle Rotheram over his ancestry. Only very briefly does Rotheram cross paths with Esther Evans.
Esther Evans is shepherd’s daughter, working as barmaid in the local pub where she acts as a peacemaker between the pub’s Welsh-speaking regulars and the detested English soldiers stationed nearby. Esther craves escape to something or somewhere larger but feels confined by her tight knit community ties. For a while she envisages an English soldier who courts her as her means of escape but when he rapes and leaves her pregnant, her confinement has doubled.
It is Karsten, the German prisoner who ultimately gives Esther some sense of freedom. We meet Karsten initially manning a Normandy coastal defence bunker. Initially he and his three comrades put up a manful defence against the Allies landing on their stretch of beach but when one of their guns jams and one of their number is killed the Allies are able to bring up flame-throwers leaving them with little choice but to surrender or die. Karsten, the only English-speaker, is the one sent out to lay down their arms. In doing so Karsten finds himself hated by his captors and treated with bitter suspicion by his fellow captives, partly because he can speak English but also because to them he symbolizes defeat. Finding himself sent to a POW camp set in Wales Karsten briefly escapes from the camp finding some succour on Esther's father's farm but when he realises that freedom wasn't what he had imagined he lets himself be recaptured, only in turn to be severely beaten by his fellow in-mates.
Karsten's escape attempt was not an act of military defiance but rather based on the need for freedom. Thus he and his fellow prisoners are used to represent the dehumanization of war. The villagers all gather to look through the fences at the captives as much as the prisoners look out of them at the hills. Karsten comes to see beyond the confines of his cage and in doing so allows the reader to look beyond the boundaries of our own fences. In giving himself up, Karsten realizes that freedom can come with surrender as well as escape.
Thankfully the author didn't try and have some neat romantic ending as that would have IMHO completely ruined this book. This isn't a conventional war story with winners and losers, instead its message is anti-war, so don't let the time frame put you off. Rather this is a book about identity, belonging and alienation set in war-time. This apparently is the author's first novel making it an all the more remarkable and very enjoyable read.
Set in a Welsh village during World War II, this novel is centred around a trio of very differing characters. A half-Jewish British military interrogator, who left Germany as a child, a young village girl, raped and impregnated by an English soldier
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stationed near her village in her first sexual encounter and lastly a German soldier taken prisoner by the Allies during the D-Day landings in Normandy. Each character start off in far-removed worlds but their worlds come together like leaves drifting in the wind, seemingly randomly, the victims of the vagaries of chance. Rotheram, the interrogator, is ordered to Wales to try and debrief Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, who had mysteriously flown to Britain at the start of the war in an attempt to discern whether the latter is sane enough to stand trial should the Allies’ prove victorious. Hess is generally uncooperative and instead tries to needle Rotheram over his ancestry. Only very briefly does Rotheram cross paths with Esther Evans.
Esther Evans is shepherd’s daughter, working as barmaid in the local pub where she acts as a peacemaker between the pub’s Welsh-speaking regulars and the detested English soldiers stationed nearby. Esther craves escape to something or somewhere larger but feels confined by her tight knit community ties. For a while she envisages an English soldier who courts her as her means of escape but when he rapes and leaves her pregnant, her confinement has doubled.
It is Karsten, the German prisoner who ultimately gives Esther some sense of freedom. We meet Karsten initially manning a Normandy coastal defence bunker. Initially he and his three comrades put up a manful defence against the Allies landing on their stretch of beach but when one of their guns jams and one of their number is killed the Allies are able to bring up flame-throwers leaving them with little choice but to surrender or die. Karsten, the only English-speaker, is the one sent out to lay down their arms. In doing so Karsten finds himself hated by his captors and treated with bitter suspicion by his fellow captives, partly because he can speak English but also because to them he symbolizes defeat. Finding himself sent to a POW camp set in Wales Karsten briefly escapes from the camp finding some succour on Esther's father's farm but when he realises that freedom wasn't what he had imagined he lets himself be recaptured, only in turn to be severely beaten by his fellow in-mates.
Karsten's escape attempt was not an act of military defiance but rather based on the need for freedom. Thus he and his fellow prisoners are used to represent the dehumanization of war. The villagers all gather to look through the fences at the captives as much as the prisoners look out of them at the hills. Karsten comes to see beyond the confines of his cage and in doing so allows the reader to look beyond the boundaries of our own fences. In giving himself up, Karsten realizes that freedom can come with surrender as well as escape.
Thankfully the author didn't try and have some neat romantic ending as that would have IMHO completely ruined this book. This isn't a conventional war story with winners and losers, instead its message is anti-war, so don't let the time frame put you off. Rather this is a book about identity, belonging and alienation set in war-time. This apparently is the author's first novel making it an all the more remarkable and very enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member Cariola
I have had this book on the shelf for quite some time and am happy that I finally got around to it. The setting is World War II, and the titular Welsh girl is Esther, 17-year old daughter of a sheep farmer. In addition to helping her widowed father with the farm, Esther works as a waitress/barmaid
Esther and her father have taken in several boys whose city parents wanted them transported to a safer place. The current boy, Jim, is having trouble fitting in with the locals. He resents being sent away by his mother, and resents Esther for turning down a proposal from a neighbor lad, Rhys, who had befriended him. Disappointed, Rhys, signs up with the British army, and Jim blames Esther for this, too. He joins a gang of kids who hide in the trees and harass the German prisoners.
The other main figure in the story is a young German POW named Karsten. Present at the Normandy invasion, he forced the men under his command to surrender one it was clear that resistance would be hopeless. Some of the men are angry about this decision--and let him know it. Karsten is one of the few prisoners who can speak English, and he tries to befriend Jim. He's also curious about the young woman who comes to fetch Jim every evening in an effort to keep him out of trouble.
To tell you more would be to tell you too much. Needless to say, these characters' paths cross in unexpected ways. Davies creates a realistic window into the effects of the war on a small Welsh town and its inhabitants. I found the ending a bit unexpected, but it worked. overall, a very good novel.
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at the local pub. This is where she meets a British soldier named Colin, one of a crew setting up a POW camp on land adjacent to her father's property.Esther and her father have taken in several boys whose city parents wanted them transported to a safer place. The current boy, Jim, is having trouble fitting in with the locals. He resents being sent away by his mother, and resents Esther for turning down a proposal from a neighbor lad, Rhys, who had befriended him. Disappointed, Rhys, signs up with the British army, and Jim blames Esther for this, too. He joins a gang of kids who hide in the trees and harass the German prisoners.
The other main figure in the story is a young German POW named Karsten. Present at the Normandy invasion, he forced the men under his command to surrender one it was clear that resistance would be hopeless. Some of the men are angry about this decision--and let him know it. Karsten is one of the few prisoners who can speak English, and he tries to befriend Jim. He's also curious about the young woman who comes to fetch Jim every evening in an effort to keep him out of trouble.
To tell you more would be to tell you too much. Needless to say, these characters' paths cross in unexpected ways. Davies creates a realistic window into the effects of the war on a small Welsh town and its inhabitants. I found the ending a bit unexpected, but it worked. overall, a very good novel.
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LibraryThing member karieh
It took me over a month to read “The Welsh Girl” – and I’m not sure why. I know I am in the minority in my lukewarm reception of this book (please see “Long-listed for Man Booker Prize”). It’s certainly not as if the characters were not well drawn, the time and place carefully
I suppose the best way to describe my hesitation with this book is that I always felt as arms length. Even when inside the thoughts and hearts of Esther, Karsten and Rotherham…I felt as if the essence of what they were thinking and feeling were closed off. I didn’t FEEL their feelings, didn’t SEE what they were seeing…
That being said, it is undeniable that this novel, set during World War II in North Wales, is beautifully crafted. The descriptions of time and place were excellent; the characters seem ones transported in time for the reader to meet.
There were parts that I couldn’t help but read twice – parts that broke through the fourth wall for me.
“…his progress reminds Esther of how the dogs part a flock. Sheepish, she thinks. The villagers feel sheepish. The word appears before her in her own flowing copperplate. She’s been having these spells lately when words, English words, seem newly coined, as if they’re speaking to her alone, as if she’s seeing the meanings behind them. She’s conscious of her lips, her tongue, forming them.”
And there are moments when I can see the village so clearly that I feel I am truly there. “Within the fence, the faces of the Germans and MPs turn up to the slope to where the villagers stand. Hands are angled to shield eyes against the sun; arms are lifted, pointing. Esther finds herself blushing, embarrassed to be caught staring, but even as she turns away, Mott, at her feet, lifts his head and offers a long howl of replay to the snapping dogs below.”
I’ve gone over and over that paragraph and I can’t put my finger on it…but something about those words take me there – I can feel the sun on my face, making me squint…I can see the prisoners pointing up, I can hear the dog and I can smell grass and animals nearby.
And there are some small moments when the thin wall cracks and I can feel the emotions of the characters.
“He was serious, Karsten saw, the answer deeply important to him. For just a moment, he wanted to cry yes! and have done with it. For just a moment, he could feel the cool relief of admitting it, even to this child. He was almost certain the boy would rather have his friend alive and a coward than brave and dead. All he had to do was say it. Yet something inside him recoiled. Some pride, some recollection of those dreadful steps down the passage out of the bunker.”
There I am able to feel those tightly wound emotions straining to explode – I can feel the pulse of the story. And once more with Esther:
“Esther looks at her through her tears and nods slowly. She does have hope, she realizes. All this time she’s thought Rhys dead, and now she hopes, prays, that he is.”
Maybe because these characters, in the short period of time when their lives intersect, live in circumstances where they cannot give reign to their emotions, cannot let their guard down for even a moment – maybe that is the distance I feel from their story.
This tale of bravery and defeat, of cowardice and unacknowledged heroism, is one I wanted to appreciate more. But maybe, this is one of those books where when read again, at a different point in my life, will have a greater impact.
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crafted, the story less than compelling…and yet…and yet.I suppose the best way to describe my hesitation with this book is that I always felt as arms length. Even when inside the thoughts and hearts of Esther, Karsten and Rotherham…I felt as if the essence of what they were thinking and feeling were closed off. I didn’t FEEL their feelings, didn’t SEE what they were seeing…
That being said, it is undeniable that this novel, set during World War II in North Wales, is beautifully crafted. The descriptions of time and place were excellent; the characters seem ones transported in time for the reader to meet.
There were parts that I couldn’t help but read twice – parts that broke through the fourth wall for me.
“…his progress reminds Esther of how the dogs part a flock. Sheepish, she thinks. The villagers feel sheepish. The word appears before her in her own flowing copperplate. She’s been having these spells lately when words, English words, seem newly coined, as if they’re speaking to her alone, as if she’s seeing the meanings behind them. She’s conscious of her lips, her tongue, forming them.”
And there are moments when I can see the village so clearly that I feel I am truly there. “Within the fence, the faces of the Germans and MPs turn up to the slope to where the villagers stand. Hands are angled to shield eyes against the sun; arms are lifted, pointing. Esther finds herself blushing, embarrassed to be caught staring, but even as she turns away, Mott, at her feet, lifts his head and offers a long howl of replay to the snapping dogs below.”
I’ve gone over and over that paragraph and I can’t put my finger on it…but something about those words take me there – I can feel the sun on my face, making me squint…I can see the prisoners pointing up, I can hear the dog and I can smell grass and animals nearby.
And there are some small moments when the thin wall cracks and I can feel the emotions of the characters.
“He was serious, Karsten saw, the answer deeply important to him. For just a moment, he wanted to cry yes! and have done with it. For just a moment, he could feel the cool relief of admitting it, even to this child. He was almost certain the boy would rather have his friend alive and a coward than brave and dead. All he had to do was say it. Yet something inside him recoiled. Some pride, some recollection of those dreadful steps down the passage out of the bunker.”
There I am able to feel those tightly wound emotions straining to explode – I can feel the pulse of the story. And once more with Esther:
“Esther looks at her through her tears and nods slowly. She does have hope, she realizes. All this time she’s thought Rhys dead, and now she hopes, prays, that he is.”
Maybe because these characters, in the short period of time when their lives intersect, live in circumstances where they cannot give reign to their emotions, cannot let their guard down for even a moment – maybe that is the distance I feel from their story.
This tale of bravery and defeat, of cowardice and unacknowledged heroism, is one I wanted to appreciate more. But maybe, this is one of those books where when read again, at a different point in my life, will have a greater impact.
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LibraryThing member schatzi
By all rights, I should have loved this book. I enjoy reading fiction set during the Second World War, and I thought that the plot sounded interesting. And the book was okay, but it wasn't nearly as engaging as I'd hoped.
I really didn't care about any of the main characters. They all seemed flat,
I really didn't care about any of the main characters. They all seemed flat,
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dull, and uninspired. There were a couple of moments when I felt a spark of interest, but those moments were few and far between. Show Less
LibraryThing member wendytrim
Pretty good. German Nazi POWs are placed in a prisoner camp in the Welsh countryside. Story deals with the effect on all involved. In particular, there's a Welsh girl and a German POW that fall in love blah blah blah. I liked this book...but it wasn't a "great" book.
LibraryThing member nocto
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
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 title. Esther's holding the small family farm together, looking after her father and a wayward Liverpudlian evacuee, and being romanced by an English soldier. A lot of the narrative takes place in the mind of a German prisoner of war held nearby.
There is also a second story in the book involving Rudolf Hess and one of his interrogators who seem to be in Wales at the same time. There's not much in this book that you could call weak, but I did find myself wondering why the book had started with this story and then moved away to the story centred on Esther. The first story does become relevant and the ending ties together very nicely, but I did feel that this thread of the book was left hanging in the air for a long time. That was pretty much the only negative thing I can think of to say though.
This is also a first novel (Ho Davies has published short story collections before) and on the basis of how well written and enjoyable it was I'm very much hoping he can keep up the quality and provide me with great books for years to come. If I were the Booker Prize committee I'd worry about what happens if he gets given the Booker at the first attempt and then proceeds to produce fabulous novels over the next few decades. Good problem to have I guess!
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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 title. Esther's holding the small family farm together, looking after her father and a wayward Liverpudlian evacuee, and being romanced by an English soldier. A lot of the narrative takes place in the mind of a German prisoner of war held nearby.
There is also a second story in the book involving Rudolf Hess and one of his interrogators who seem to be in Wales at the same time. There's not much in this book that you could call weak, but I did find myself wondering why the book had started with this story and then moved away to the story centred on Esther. The first story does become relevant and the ending ties together very nicely, but I did feel that this thread of the book was left hanging in the air for a long time. That was pretty much the only negative thing I can think of to say though.
This is also a first novel (Ho Davies has published short story collections before) and on the basis of how well written and enjoyable it was I'm very much hoping he can keep up the quality and provide me with great books for years to come. If I were the Booker Prize committee I'd worry about what happens if he gets given the Booker at the first attempt and then proceeds to produce fabulous novels over the next few decades. Good problem to have I guess!
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LibraryThing member michaelbartley
The book started strong seemed to lose power as it went . but a very interesting story and theme. story of lost people, a german, a welsh girl, and a german jew working for the english
LibraryThing member kewing
Three characters: a German Jew who escaped prior to the War, serves in British Intelligence and interviews Rudolph Hess; a German soldier captured during D-Day, imprisoned in rural Wales and coming to grips with his surrender; and a young Welsh woman raped by a British sapper--whose intertwined
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lives cross in the concept of cynefin, a Welsh word describing relationships to place. An absorbing story. Show Less
LibraryThing member jedziedz
The Welsh Girl is a well written, detailed, descriptive character driven novel. Peter Ho Davies' writing style is very visual, the descriptions of setting and people fill the reader's imagination. The characters are so well written -- every character walks, talks and breathes as if standing next to
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you. With all that said, this was not my kind of read. The plot meanders along and nothing really happens until the last 100 pages or so. The two main characters don't speak to each other until half way through the book. It was difficult for me to read this book, instead of enjoying the ride I was too preoccupied with where it was going and when we were going to get there. Show Less
LibraryThing member samsheep
I thought this was just wonderful - beautifully written, small and yet huge. I really liked all the characters and found the end very moving in its rather understated way. The only criticism is that it didn't quite convey the Welshness of (N) Wales enough for me but that wasn't really essential to
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the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member mabrown2
The premise of this book made me think of "Summer of My German Soldier" for adults. This was a very lovely, well-written novel that I enjoyed. But I don't think I was quite as blown away as other reviewers. I liked the overall theme of conflicting loyalties and thought all of the main characters'
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plotlines were brought together full-circle rather nicely. However, when it was all over and done with, I didn't really feel anything for any of the characters. The story was simply over and done. It didn't stay with me days after. Show Less
LibraryThing member pdebolt
This is an ambitious first novel by Davies. I found the descriptions of the POW camp in Wales fascinating - who knew that Wales was that involved? I liked the fact that the war was seen from different personal and national perspectives - it is easy now to know what really happened, but imagining
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the surprise by some of the Germans that they were losing the war is thought-provoking. The relationships between the Welsh girl and her father and the German POW were not as deeply explored as I might have liked. There was such a preponderance of plots, sub-plots and themes that some of them were necessarily shortened to make the book a readable length. Overall, I liked it and came away with thoughts to consider. I will watch for Davies' future books. Show Less
LibraryThing member coolmama
I tried. I really, really tried. I know - it got great reviews, hailed as one of the best this year. But, when I got up to page 110, and the book still made me fall asleep every time I opened it, I thought, maybe, it's just not for me.
LibraryThing member TurboBookSnob
Review In 2003, Peter Ho Davies was named as one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists, on the strength of the short stories he had published alone. Four years later, he published his first novel, and it was selected for the 2007 Booker Prize longlist. High praise indeed.
The Welsh Girl is set
Esther, a young Welsh girl who works in the local pub, provides the emotional voice of the novel. A daughter of a fiercely nationalistic shepherd, she must work with not only the local Welshmen, but also the English soldiers stationed in the area and the BBC personnel who are in the village covering the war. It is perhaps her experience in dealing with the English “foreigners” that enables her to feel true empathy for Karsten, a young German soldier who is being detained in a prison camp constructed in Esther's village.
Karsten speaks a halting English, and begins to try to engage Esther in conversation when she visits the wire fence separating them. Failing that, he tries to win her approval by fashioning small objects as toys for young Jim, an evacuee living with Esther and her father.
Rotheram is a German Jew who surrendered to the British during a particularly harrowing trench fight. At first, his comrades implore him to surrender for them – he is the only one among them who speaks English. Following the surrender, however, they forget the fear they previously experienced, and condemn Rotheram as a coward. Rotheram goes to work in British Intelligence, and is sent to Wales to interview Hitler's former deputy, Rudolf Hess, to judge whether or not he is sane enough to stand trial after the war is over.
The novel brings together these very different characters, who, on the surface, must naturally distrust each other on the basis of their nationality alone. Davies uses these characters to explore the validity of national identity, of siding with country over humanity in times of war.
Davies' language is gorgeous and precise, and his characterization is well-done. The reader is able to empathize with both Esther and Karsten. The one flaw lies in his ability to effectively integrate Rotheram and his relationship with Hess into the heart of the story. They both play a role in Davies' theme of alienation from country and kin, however they appear in the novel only briefly. Still, this is a remarkable debut, a well-done and engrossing story.
The Welsh Girl is set
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during the last months of World War II, and explores the relationships between three characters of different nationalities and differing national loyalties. Esther, a young Welsh girl who works in the local pub, provides the emotional voice of the novel. A daughter of a fiercely nationalistic shepherd, she must work with not only the local Welshmen, but also the English soldiers stationed in the area and the BBC personnel who are in the village covering the war. It is perhaps her experience in dealing with the English “foreigners” that enables her to feel true empathy for Karsten, a young German soldier who is being detained in a prison camp constructed in Esther's village.
Karsten speaks a halting English, and begins to try to engage Esther in conversation when she visits the wire fence separating them. Failing that, he tries to win her approval by fashioning small objects as toys for young Jim, an evacuee living with Esther and her father.
Rotheram is a German Jew who surrendered to the British during a particularly harrowing trench fight. At first, his comrades implore him to surrender for them – he is the only one among them who speaks English. Following the surrender, however, they forget the fear they previously experienced, and condemn Rotheram as a coward. Rotheram goes to work in British Intelligence, and is sent to Wales to interview Hitler's former deputy, Rudolf Hess, to judge whether or not he is sane enough to stand trial after the war is over.
The novel brings together these very different characters, who, on the surface, must naturally distrust each other on the basis of their nationality alone. Davies uses these characters to explore the validity of national identity, of siding with country over humanity in times of war.
Davies' language is gorgeous and precise, and his characterization is well-done. The reader is able to empathize with both Esther and Karsten. The one flaw lies in his ability to effectively integrate Rotheram and his relationship with Hess into the heart of the story. They both play a role in Davies' theme of alienation from country and kin, however they appear in the novel only briefly. Still, this is a remarkable debut, a well-done and engrossing story.
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LibraryThing member Dottiehaase
Takes place in North Wales just after D-day. 2 stories--one is about the German-Jewish interrogator Rotheram who travels to Wales to question prisoner Rudolf Hess. Because he is part Jewish, he cannot have the final job of questioning for the trial because he might be seen as biased. Story #2 is
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about barmaid, Esther Evans who has a local boyfriend, who goes away to the Army and does not come back, is killed but not in combat. She meets an escaped prisoner and hides him, then he is released and lives on her farm and helps take care of the sheep. she has a child, that everyone believes belongs to her boyfriend, but really belongs to the German prisoner, Karsten. But karsten decided to leave and she stays on the farm. Show Less
LibraryThing member Castlelass
Historical fiction set in northern Wales near the end of WWII involving three primary characters. Esther is a seventeen-year-old whose mother died when she was young. She helps her father run her family’s sheep farm and also works in a local pub. Karsten is a German soldier who speaks English. He
This is a subtle, slowly developing, character-driven book. The characters are ordinary people brought together during extraordinary times. Each character is faced with moral quandaries and the author keeps the reader’s interest in wondering how these issues will be resolved. The three main characters are very different, yet they are similar in that each is an outcast and each character struggles with doubt, guilt, and fear. They evolve over time, learning through their experiences.
Though this story eventually involves a relationship, it does not sink into sentimentality, and it is not the primary focus of the book. Instead, it is oriented around symbols, such as the Welsh concept of cynefin, a Welsh term connoting the intimate connection between the sheep and the land they occupy. It is not difficult to extrapolate this idea to the people in the story. Themes include nationalism, identity, belonging, freedom, secrecy, honor, courage, and loyalty.
I have always been interested in reading about different parts of the world during the second World War to get a feel for what life was like and how people coped. It is like putting together an enormous jigsaw puzzle, filling in portions at a time to eventually reveal the bigger picture. This book fills in the pieces related to life in the rural Welsh countryside, which is an integral part of the story. I learned a great deal about the history and culture of Wales. I found it extremely well-written, meaningful, and thought-provoking.
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is being held in a nearby POW camp and is haunted by his decision to surrender. Rotheram is a half-Jewish German who has fled to England and works as an interrogator of German prisoners, specifically assigned to interview Rudolf Hess. At first, his story seems unrelated, but as the book progresses, we begin to see the impact of his story on the other two. This is a subtle, slowly developing, character-driven book. The characters are ordinary people brought together during extraordinary times. Each character is faced with moral quandaries and the author keeps the reader’s interest in wondering how these issues will be resolved. The three main characters are very different, yet they are similar in that each is an outcast and each character struggles with doubt, guilt, and fear. They evolve over time, learning through their experiences.
Though this story eventually involves a relationship, it does not sink into sentimentality, and it is not the primary focus of the book. Instead, it is oriented around symbols, such as the Welsh concept of cynefin, a Welsh term connoting the intimate connection between the sheep and the land they occupy. It is not difficult to extrapolate this idea to the people in the story. Themes include nationalism, identity, belonging, freedom, secrecy, honor, courage, and loyalty.
I have always been interested in reading about different parts of the world during the second World War to get a feel for what life was like and how people coped. It is like putting together an enormous jigsaw puzzle, filling in portions at a time to eventually reveal the bigger picture. This book fills in the pieces related to life in the rural Welsh countryside, which is an integral part of the story. I learned a great deal about the history and culture of Wales. I found it extremely well-written, meaningful, and thought-provoking.
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LibraryThing member TimBazzett
THE WELSH GIRL is a very enjoyable read, full of well-drawn characters. WWII stories have always intrigued me, maybe because it's been called the "good war" by as notable a writer as Studs Terkel, and was fought by a citizens army that came to be called the greatest generation. Well, that's in in
Because this is a story told from the British side of things, actually from a Welsh viewpoint, set in a tiny village in Wales. The hero and heroine are no one important, really, but are so fully realized that you find yourself rooting for them. The hero is Karsten, a German POW who is tortured by the fact that he'd surrendered. The heroine is Esther, a young Welsh girl who briefly befriends him. And well, there's another sort of hero too, in Rotheram, a German Jewish emigrant in the British army, who feels guilty that he'd fled Germany before the war - because he tries very hard not to consider himself Jewish, although his father was indeed Jewish. And then there's Rudolf Hess, a real-life war criminal, who figures into the story in a more minor way.
At first glance the plots in THE WELSH GIRL don't seem to fit together very well, but gradually you begin to see how it all fits together. It's all about place and belonging, as illustrated in the Welsh concept of "cynefin." Rotheram must accept his Jewish heritage, Esther finally understands that she is where she belongs, and Karsten too feels the pull of his homeland and duty to his mother. Even Rudolf Hess comes clean and refuses to deny his place in the Nazi master plan.
No spoilers here, but take my word for it, there is some fine writing going on here, and, although the conclusion is perhaps not quite what I was hoping for, it is a fitting and genuine one. Life,is not, after all, a Disney film.
While reading this book, I was reminded of a couple others I read many years ago. One was THE SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER, and the other HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. No real connections, I suppose, other than subject and place. But both great novels nonetheless.
I'm adding the name Peter Ho Davies to my list of writers to watch.
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this country, the USA. But I'm sure Great Britain probably feels the same way about their soldiers from that conflict. Because this is a story told from the British side of things, actually from a Welsh viewpoint, set in a tiny village in Wales. The hero and heroine are no one important, really, but are so fully realized that you find yourself rooting for them. The hero is Karsten, a German POW who is tortured by the fact that he'd surrendered. The heroine is Esther, a young Welsh girl who briefly befriends him. And well, there's another sort of hero too, in Rotheram, a German Jewish emigrant in the British army, who feels guilty that he'd fled Germany before the war - because he tries very hard not to consider himself Jewish, although his father was indeed Jewish. And then there's Rudolf Hess, a real-life war criminal, who figures into the story in a more minor way.
At first glance the plots in THE WELSH GIRL don't seem to fit together very well, but gradually you begin to see how it all fits together. It's all about place and belonging, as illustrated in the Welsh concept of "cynefin." Rotheram must accept his Jewish heritage, Esther finally understands that she is where she belongs, and Karsten too feels the pull of his homeland and duty to his mother. Even Rudolf Hess comes clean and refuses to deny his place in the Nazi master plan.
No spoilers here, but take my word for it, there is some fine writing going on here, and, although the conclusion is perhaps not quite what I was hoping for, it is a fitting and genuine one. Life,is not, after all, a Disney film.
While reading this book, I was reminded of a couple others I read many years ago. One was THE SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER, and the other HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. No real connections, I suppose, other than subject and place. But both great novels nonetheless.
I'm adding the name Peter Ho Davies to my list of writers to watch.
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LibraryThing member Opinionated
Its funny, I was originally interested in this because I read some extracts in Granta. But those extracts - featuring Rotheram and Hess - are pretty unrepresentative of the book as a whole, and interesting as they are, feel as though they belong in a different novel and have been included here
I agree that with some other readers that the end is a little confusing, and that other than The Welsh Girl herself some of the other characters are sketchily drawn, but I enjoyed it none the less and really wanted to know what happened next. And I want to thank the author for introducing me to Cynefin - an untranslatable Welsh word to mean a sense of place as expressed by sheep. This book is really all about Cynefin and the need for people to find their own sense of place
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because the author didn't know what else to do with them. But the rest of the book, although the plot line is predictable, is nicely crafted, and perfectly evokes Welsh village life in the war years (according to what my mother, who grew up in a similar village, told me), the unchanging cycle of seasons and years, dislike of the English - and therefore sympathy with their enemies - the excitement of prisoners of war and evacuees in the valleys and the dangerous allure of the unknown. I agree that with some other readers that the end is a little confusing, and that other than The Welsh Girl herself some of the other characters are sketchily drawn, but I enjoyed it none the less and really wanted to know what happened next. And I want to thank the author for introducing me to Cynefin - an untranslatable Welsh word to mean a sense of place as expressed by sheep. This book is really all about Cynefin and the need for people to find their own sense of place
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LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
Considering this was the author's first novel, I stand in awe. This man is a truly gifted writer -- I give you chapters 13 and 14 as an example of his talent: the prose here was almost lyrical, and I could not put the book down for one second. The rest of the book is very well done as well, but to
The book is set toward the very end of WWII in Wales. There are 3 storylines here: German soldiers in a Welsh POW camp, the story of Esther, a Welsh farm girl who works at a local pub, and a sort of side plot (although it works in with the overall themes of this novel) involving a half-German Jewish man working for the British Army, sent to interrogate Rudolf Hess to see if he's fit to stand trial for his part in the crimes of Hitler's Nazi regime. I will not rehash the plot here (there are plenty of reviews of this book online); the plot isn't really that important here. It's what I got from this book that I think has more relevance. In each storyline,the situation of each main character gives them opportunity to reflect on war and how it affects their own sense of identity and place, as well as how it shapes their sense of honor & family ties. Actually, I'd venture to say that in each case, what constitutes family, community & nation also becomes a major theme. And finally, meaning & purpose in life are explored here, using the main characters, all from different backgrounds, as the backdrop for fleshing out all of these themes. In this sense, the novel was a success for me, because truly, the author's musings on these subjects stood out very clearly.
Yes, the story was a bit contrived, as has been noted by several reviewers, and yes, it did seem a bit hurried, but don't forget...this was this author's first full-length novel. His writing is well worth the attention given to him by the Booker prize judges. Would I move it to the shortlist? Probably not, but it is definitely well worth the read. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys quality fiction.
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me, these chapters marked this author as someone to watch in the future. His characterization was fine, although at times somewhat unfinished and underdeveloped, but that's okay. I will definitely be looking for more books from Davies in the future.The book is set toward the very end of WWII in Wales. There are 3 storylines here: German soldiers in a Welsh POW camp, the story of Esther, a Welsh farm girl who works at a local pub, and a sort of side plot (although it works in with the overall themes of this novel) involving a half-German Jewish man working for the British Army, sent to interrogate Rudolf Hess to see if he's fit to stand trial for his part in the crimes of Hitler's Nazi regime. I will not rehash the plot here (there are plenty of reviews of this book online); the plot isn't really that important here. It's what I got from this book that I think has more relevance. In each storyline,the situation of each main character gives them opportunity to reflect on war and how it affects their own sense of identity and place, as well as how it shapes their sense of honor & family ties. Actually, I'd venture to say that in each case, what constitutes family, community & nation also becomes a major theme. And finally, meaning & purpose in life are explored here, using the main characters, all from different backgrounds, as the backdrop for fleshing out all of these themes. In this sense, the novel was a success for me, because truly, the author's musings on these subjects stood out very clearly.
Yes, the story was a bit contrived, as has been noted by several reviewers, and yes, it did seem a bit hurried, but don't forget...this was this author's first full-length novel. His writing is well worth the attention given to him by the Booker prize judges. Would I move it to the shortlist? Probably not, but it is definitely well worth the read. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys quality fiction.
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Subjects
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2007)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2009)
British Book Award (Shortlist — 2008)
Waverton Good Read Award (Longlist — 2007)
Language
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
352 p.; 7.64 inches
ISBN
0340938277 / 9780340938270