The Welsh Girl

In 1944, a German Jewish refugee is sent to Wales to interview Rudolf Hess; in Snowdonia, a seventeen-year-old girl, the daughter of a fiercely nationalistic shepherd, dreams of the bright lights of an English city; and in a nearby POW camp, a German soldier struggles to reconcile his surrender with his sense of honour. As their lives intersect, all three will come to question where they belong and where their loyalties lie.

Peter Ho Davies's thought-provoking and profoundly moving first novel traces a perilous wartime romance as it explores the bonds of love and duty that hold us to family, country, and ultimately our fellow man. Vividly rooted in history and landscape, THE WELSH GIRL reminds us anew of the pervasive presence of the past, and the startling intimacy of the foreign.

“'Wherever these globe-trotting fictions go, vaulting across continents and swerving through time lines, their humour, poignancy and understanding is never far behind'”

A beautifully crafted, lyrical novel - Maggie O'Farrell, Observer Books of the Year

Moving, memorable and beautifully written - Jessica Mann, Sunday Telegraph

Deeply felt and vividly imagined - Lionel Shriver, Daily Telegraph

Fresh and engaging...Some sentences and passages are crafted so beautifully and seemingly effortlessly that it provokes envy. - David Cornett, Sunday Express

'Quietly powerful... a fine piece of work - Stephen Knight, Times Literary Supplement

His prose and the evocation of time and place are almost always of the highest order...he approaches the Second World War with a fresh and contemporary style, a gift that he shares with Kazuo Ishiguro - Russell Celyn Jones, The Times

A scintillating instance of fictional imagination applied to history - Richard Eder, New York Times

Impressive...a compelling story in itself, but Davies's special skill lies in integrating conflicts that drive the narrative at a more intense level - Richard Gwyn, Independent

Peter Ho Davies's first short story collection, THE UGLIEST HOUSE IN THE WORLD, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the PEN/Macmillan Prize. His second, EQUAL LOVE, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a New York Times Notable Book. In 2003 he was named among the 'Best of Young British Novelists' by Granta. He is currently director of the graduate program in creative writing at the University of Michigan. The son of a Welsh father and Chinese mother, Davies was raised in England and spent his summers in Wales. He is married with one son.

In 1944, a German Jewish refugee is sent to Wales to interview Rudolf Hess; in Snowdonia, a seventeen-year-old girl, the daughter of a fiercely nationalistic shepherd, dreams of the bright lights of an English city; and in a nearby POW camp, a German soldier struggles to reconcile his surrender with his sense of honour. As their lives intersect, all three will come to question where they belong and where their loyalties lie. Peter Ho Davies's thought-provoking and profoundly moving first novel traces a perilous wartime romance as it explores the bonds of love and duty that hold us to family, country, and ultimately our fellow man. Vividly rooted in history and landscape, THE WELSH GIRL reminds us anew of the pervasive presence of the past, and the startling intimacy of the foreign.

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