This is the story of a little girl growing up in north Wales. All those born in Wales will of course know that passions run deep throughout the country. The Welsh are able to express their passions through song, through poetry, through prose, as well as their actions.
Author Beth has a great ability to tell stories of battles, sporting heroes, myths and swashbuckling disasters, which she shares, along with lovely descriptions of the hills and valleys that she called home. She tells tales of her childhood, how she grew up with animals and how that love of animals has never, ever left her. Her life has always stayed with animals, whether they were large or small, the cute, cuddly ones and those that were rather prone to bite.
It was great that Beth mentions many traditional Welsh recipes from Bara Brith to Laverbread, Glamorgan sausages to Welsh cakes and Welsh Rarebit to roast lamb amongst others. Indeed this is what many would call an appendix which really gives the book an extra appeal, giving links to the full recipes on her blog but also crediting the source of the particular recipe.
To quote from the book…
“Throughout I have tried to give you a flavour of Wales, its people and their passions. Each chapter begins with an idiom or quote, and several refer to significant occurrences or famous pieces of music that have shaped my homeland. Despite this, I know I have barely scratched the surface. In this section, I offer you a set of notes to dip into.”
Headed references this small section of the book yet again gives the reader further reading to enhance their knowledge and love of Wales and its culture.
Beth is a wonderful, clever storyteller and she quotes Sir Anthony Hopkins saying, ‘You can take the boy out of Wales but you cannot take Wales out of the boy’. Well that applies to the girl Beth too.
