Beggars & Choosers

Beggars & Choosers

by Catrin Collier (Author)

Synopsis

'I warn you, and it is a solemn warning. Leave me, and you - and who ever you run to - will suffer. I have a husband's rights under God's law: and those whom God has joined together let no man break asunder. ' In Pontypridd and the Rhondda in 1905 coal is king and the families who sunk the first collieries are rich. None is wealthier or more generous a benefactor than Harry Watkin Jones. At 20, Sali Watkin Jones is about to marry her childhood sweetheart, Mansel, a young and successful businessman, in Pontypridd's wedding of the year. But as tragedy follows tragedy, four short and traumatic years later Sali becomes a penniless outcast fleeing from a violent husband and struggling to support herself and her son in a world very different to the one in which she has been brought up. Sali finds work in the home of a family of colliers. Here she and her son find the warmth and love missing from their lives for so long. As the miners' wages are eroded by the greed of the companies that have replaced private owners, unrest and violence come to the valleys. Caught up in the conflict, Sali finds herself denying her roots, her class and even sacrificing her son's future for the sake of the people she loves and the cause they are prepared to die for.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
Publisher: Orion
Published: 16 Oct 2003

ISBN 10: 0752853147
ISBN 13: 9780752853147
Book Overview: Orion has doubled Catrin Collier's sales: 9000+ copies sold in the trade editions of SWANSEA SUMMER and over 40,000 of SWANSEA GIRLS in the paperback edition so far. Core author at WH Smith. Very committed supermarket sale. Hearts of Gold series of books sold to the BBC. In production and due to be transmitted in August 2003.

Media Reviews
'This was a convincing story with a host of well-drawn characters, from all levels of society. It was difficult to put down.' HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW 'Another typically enjoyable novel from the pen of Wales' answer to Catherine Cookson. ' BOOKCASE Catrin Collier, the author of numerous popular and critically acclaimed novels has brought us yet another winner! SOUTH WALES ECHO 'Catrin Collier brings this era and people to life. She makes it possible to imagine the living conditions of the people at that time and the class divide between the wealthy and the poor.' SOUTH WALES ARGUS 'Beggars & Choosers is quite graphic in parts, but that fits in with the gritty reality of the age. I enjoyed the book as a whole.' GWENT GAZETTE
Author Bio
Catrin Collier was born and brought up in Pontypridd. She worked for a while in Europe and America before returning to her native Wales. She now lives on the Gower Peninsula near Swansea, with her family.