Huw Morgan

The narrator of this story, Huw Morgan is an intelligent, well-spoken Welsh man who remembers with clarity the beauty, simplicity and warmth of his childhood passages and events. He relives special moments throughout the book, and through Huw, we learn of Welsh traditions and culture, as well as their peculiar and lovely form of English. Huw's deep and abiding appreciation for the nature around him makes the destruction of his valley even more disturbing.

Huw is impressed throughout his childhood with the images and feelings of the warmth of community and the bonds of family. Although he is a talented and gifted academic, his loyalty to his family's work in the valley's coal mine takes precedence over any high-paying career he might have pursued. He is a boy who was a late baby, and was adored by many family members as he grew up.

As a young...