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by June Gadsby Gwyneth Johns shocks the sober churchgoing folk of Puerto Daffyd, a Welsh pioneering town in Patagonia. She killed her father after he raped her and now she lives wild and free, the life of a gaucho. Her only friend is old Blodwen Evans, and when the old lady sends a letter calling her family to follow her and settle in Patagonia she sets a chain of events in motion that nobody could have foreseen. The only member of Blodwen's family who arrives is the ne'er-do-well Matt Riley with his terrified new wife Dora. Accompanying them is the hardworking Rob, a friend of Matt's since childhood. and his younger brother Davy. It is going to be Gwyneth's task to show them how to ride and become gauchos themselves - but this is perhaps the least of her problems. Novels about Welsh pioneers in Patagonia aren't exactly thick on the ground, so top marks to this author for writing about something new and unusual. From the saga-style background of Matt and his companions' North Eastern home to the windswept, bleak wastes of southern Argentina, this novel combines gritty realism with escapist geography in an appealing way. It is ostensibly a romance, but there is a lot more in here; adventure, murder, history and just plain old human interest. Gwyneth makes a bold but womanly heroine, and the villain's descent from casual selfishness into outright criminality is chillingly gripping. If, like me, you like your romances spiced with the fresh air of originality and realism then you will probably like this. |
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