Author: Myrddin ap Dafydd
Year published: 2019
Category: Adult fiction
Pages: 240 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2024 Google Reading map): UK (Wales)
Summary: A novel about the 'Welsh Not' or 'Welsh Stick' period in schools in Wales. Bob starts school at Ysgol y Llan at the end of the summer, but he's worried. He doesn't have a word of English. The 'Welsh Not' stigma for speaking Welsh is still used at that school. English adaption of Pren a Chansen. Will he have to wear it? Will he be caned for speaking Welsh? He's also been a sickly child and is starting school four years late; he'll be an eight-year-old in the Infants' class. He doesn't know yet if he can cope with all of this. But his older brothers and big sister will look out for him, and his grandmother, Nain Bicycle, always makes him feel better. When an unexpected accident rocks the family, what part does Mac, the gamekeeper at the big house, play in the story.
Review: A friend of mine from back in graduate school recommended this book. She is a former librarian and, like me, has lived in the UK. She knows my mother is Welsh and that I would find this novel interesting. This novel is translated from the Welsh and the translator did a great job of capturing the Welsh accent and the feel of the Welsh way of speaking.
Though this is a novel, it is based on a real family (brothers Bob and Owen) and their experiences going to school in the Welsh Not era (the photo above is of the Welsh Not that students had to hang around their necks if they were caught speaking Welsh. In the early 1900s the tide turned and since then Welsh is taught in schools as is the history, songs, poetry, and culture.
This is what I call a gentle read. There isn't a lot of action, the pace is calm and slow, it's really a story of people living their daily lives and the impact of certain impacts upon them and their village.
I liked that the story is told from the point of view of children. They are innocent and can give a fresh take on ideas and events; they also feel that they can take on the world! There are painful moments in this story when children are yelled at, chastized, and hit for either speaking Welsh or not speaking English, but there are also poignant moments when characters talk about how wonderful it is to speak and understand two languages. One comment has stuck with me: the idea that having two languages is like having two windows instead of just one. You can see further, wider, and more.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Alphabet (Title)--U
- Decolonize your reading--Translated into English
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