Green, Green My Valley Now
Encyclopedia
Green, Green My Valley Now is a novel
of 1975, by the author Richard Llewellyn
. It is the final of three sequels to the better known How Green Was My Valley
.
, establishing farming and civil contracting enterprises. But with political currents shifting in military-governed Argentina, he and his second wife Sûs decide to return to Wales
.
Now a rich man, Huw spares no expense to buy, restore and refurbish his wife's ancestral farmhouse in Mid-Wales and make it into a fine manor
house. His apparently limitless wealth also allows him to buy property and land to try to restore the fortunes of the small local town. He becomes aware of nationalist feelings amongst the people, but makes no real attempt to understand them.
As news of his arrival spreads, he meets his niece Blodwen, his sister Olwen's daughter, a piano student; he sponsors her to study in Germany. He learns that the descendants of his other siblings live in Australia, America, South Africa and New Zealand.
Huw is visited by a woman claiming to be the granddaughter of his brother Davy from Melbourne
; she brings Kiri, a French girl, with her. She is later revealed to be a fraud, and an IRA terrorist, seeking an isolated country hideout for bomb-making. Kiri is a Breton
nationalist and also a bomb-maker.
After his wife dies, Huw marries Teleri, also a descendant of Patagonian Welsh. The ceremony at the farm is disrupted by a would-be assassin
, seeking revenge for Kiri's imprisonment, but the attack is foiled by his many friends.
After the marriage, Huw and Teleri slip quietly away on honeymoon
, planning to visit Patagonia. Before doing so, Huw finally visits his native valley, which he previously avoided, and is astonished to discover the coal tips gone and the area landscaped. Even fish have returned to the once-polluted river.
The author appears to have retconned Huw's age - if he was born during the reign of Queen Victoria (as implied in the original novel) he is likely to be over 80 years old by the time of the final novel. But Llewellyn portrays Huw as a much younger man.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
of 1975, by the author Richard Llewellyn
Richard Llewellyn
Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd , better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd (8 December 1906 – 30 November 1983), better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd...
. It is the final of three sequels to the better known How Green Was My Valley
How Green Was My Valley
How Green Was My Valley is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, telling the story through narration of the main character, of his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed to have based the book on his own knowledge of the Gilfach Goch area, but this was proven...
.
Plot summary
Huw Morgan has become a successful businessman in PatagoniaPatagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
, establishing farming and civil contracting enterprises. But with political currents shifting in military-governed Argentina, he and his second wife Sûs decide to return to Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Now a rich man, Huw spares no expense to buy, restore and refurbish his wife's ancestral farmhouse in Mid-Wales and make it into a fine manor
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
house. His apparently limitless wealth also allows him to buy property and land to try to restore the fortunes of the small local town. He becomes aware of nationalist feelings amongst the people, but makes no real attempt to understand them.
As news of his arrival spreads, he meets his niece Blodwen, his sister Olwen's daughter, a piano student; he sponsors her to study in Germany. He learns that the descendants of his other siblings live in Australia, America, South Africa and New Zealand.
Huw is visited by a woman claiming to be the granddaughter of his brother Davy from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
; she brings Kiri, a French girl, with her. She is later revealed to be a fraud, and an IRA terrorist, seeking an isolated country hideout for bomb-making. Kiri is a Breton
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
nationalist and also a bomb-maker.
After his wife dies, Huw marries Teleri, also a descendant of Patagonian Welsh. The ceremony at the farm is disrupted by a would-be assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, seeking revenge for Kiri's imprisonment, but the attack is foiled by his many friends.
After the marriage, Huw and Teleri slip quietly away on honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
, planning to visit Patagonia. Before doing so, Huw finally visits his native valley, which he previously avoided, and is astonished to discover the coal tips gone and the area landscaped. Even fish have returned to the once-polluted river.
Criticism
Less well-known than the 1939 novel How Green Was My Valley, on which it is based, the story is arguably weaker than the original. It completes the Huw Morgan cycle. It presents Huw as an extremely rich man but with apparently little sense of judgement in the use of his wealth. He has become an extremely driven man in a sexual sense, conducting brief but passionate affairs with his housekeeper and willingly accepting advances from young women.The author appears to have retconned Huw's age - if he was born during the reign of Queen Victoria (as implied in the original novel) he is likely to be over 80 years old by the time of the final novel. But Llewellyn portrays Huw as a much younger man.