Garthowen a Story of a Welsh Homestead

A classic story of life in Southern Wales, Garthowen is one of Welsh novelist Allen Raine's best-loved works.

We hear the stories of the Perrys and Gethin Owens, ordinary Welsh folk living and working in the mid-to-late 19th century. The everyday life in the villages and hamlets of South Wales is depicted vividly, as is the nature of the people and how they lived at the time. The author was herself from Wales, and eagerly and capably distinguishes the culture of the Welsh Valleys from that of neighbouring England.

Garthowen is the farmstead where Ebben Owens and the rest of the Owens family live. An enclave of Welsh culture and warmth, the dwelling is central to the story and lives of the main characters, wherein the characters mingle and gossip about the goings on of the locality.

The book is a wellspring of insight to the history of Welsh people, as well as a good story in its own right. The romantic and life aspirations of characters in a country which was changing rapidly through industrialisation, and the differences between the younger and elder generations, are the source of much of the drama.