I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I savored each word as I wound my way through the lives of these characters. The writing is almost lyrical. The author takes you on an epic journey through the highs, lows and in-betweens of a strong, closely knit family and you when you finally leave them, you are all the better for having known them. These are stories that will stay with you. To say nothing of the beautiful language used to describe each emotion and situation. This is a book to be savored and loved.

I wish the word "poignant" was one of the Bookmovement Choices when you pick the 3 words that describe a book. This is a classic coming of age novel that centers around a loving, hard working family. The Welsch language is poetic in places.

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, first published in 1939, deserves a comeback. It is a wonderful novel that is almost forgotten nowadays as readers try to keep up with all the novels currently being published.

This book came to the United States in 1940 and won the National Book Award for favorite novel that year. The 1941 edition was in my parents’ bookcase for many years before I finally picked it up to read. Before long, I was asking myself, what took me so long, because it could be the best classic I ever read.

The story, narrated by Huw Morgan, is about years of his family’s life in a Welsh mining community during the reign of Queen Victoria. As an older man, he has finally decided to leave and is reminiscing. If all coming-of-age tales were this mesmerizing and this touching, I wouldn’t avoid them as I do.

Particularly attractive is the English the narrator and other characters use. While the reader is to understand that they are really speaking Welsh, their sentence structure is distinguished from English English. I loved the sound of it the way I love the sound of a Tana French novel.

Although Richard Llewellyn’s descriptions of the valley may seem wordy, the reader should understand the necessity of emphasizing its beauty and how mining operations were destroying it. This destruction is the reason Huw is leaving.