William Jones (T. Rowland Hughes)

"O, Northman, ifa?"
"Ia, o Lan-y-graig... Sir Gaernarfon."
"Shwd ma' petha'n dishgwl yn y chwareli 'na nawr?"
"Y?"
"Shwd ma' petha'n mynd yn y chwareli lan 'na?"
"O, go lew, wir."
"Gwd, w. Ma'n dwym 'eddi'."
"Y?"
"Hoil twym?"
"Ydi, wir." Hyderai William Jones iddo roi'r ateb cywir.

Fed up at last of life with his lazy and unaffectionate wife Leusa, the gentle quarryman William Jones flees North Wales to the 'Sowth' to live with his sister Mary in Bryn Glo in the South Wales Valleys. But the depression is still in full swing, and most of the valley is unemployed. Yet though he might not find employment, William Jones finds many other things which are more important.

A social comedy with serious themes of belonging and responsibility, William Jones was T. Rowland Hughes's second novel and remains one of the most popular. Like all his works it draws on his own experiences, on this occasion as a man who grew up around the slate quarries of North-west Wales who moved to live in the Valleys.

Paperback, 346pp.