The Writers of Wales Database

JAMES, SIAN

Born near Llandysul, Ceredigion and educated at University College of Wales Aberystwyth. Siân has written many novels since One Afternoon (P. Davies, 1975), four of them winning literary prizes. One book of short stories, Not Singing Exactly (Honno, 1996) won the Wales Book of the Year Award in 1997, and she has twice won the Yorkshire Post Prize for Fiction. Her classic novel A Small Country (Collins, 1979) was adapted for film by Stan Barstow and Diana Griffiths, and produced by Green Bay Media in 2006. A BAFTA Cymru award winner, the full-length film Calon Gaeth was also broadcast as a four-part drama on S4C. Her latest novel Return to Hendre Ddu (Seren, 2009) is the tumultuous sequel to A Small Country (Collins, 1979).

Siân has also written The Sky over Wales (Honno, 1997), an account of a thirties childhood, and several short stories and plays for radio. She has taught creative writing on the MA course at the University of Glamorgan. In July 2001, Siân received a fellowship from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and in July 2002, a doctorate from the University of Glamorgan. Siân now lives in Pershore, Worcestershire and is a Fellow of Academi.

Selected Publications:
A Bell Rings
One Afternoon (P. Davies, 1975)
Yesterday (Collins, 1978)
A Small Country (Collins, 1979)
Another Beginning (Collins, 1980)
Dragons and Roses (Duckworth, 1983)
Dangerous Time (Century, 1984)
Not into Temptation (St. Martin’s Press, 1984)
Storm at Arberth (Seren, 1994)
Love and War (Piatkus, 1994)
Not Singing Exactly (Honno, 1996)
Two Loves (Piatkus, 1997)
The Sky Over Wales (Honno, 1997)
Summer Storm (Piatkus, 1998)
Second Chance (Piatkus, 2000)
Outside Paradise (Parthian, 2003)
Summer Shadows (Honno, 2004)
Return to Hendre Ddu (Seren, 2009)

Contributed to:
Love from Wales (co–editor) (Seren, 1991)
The Awakening by Kate Roberts (translator) (Seren, 2006)
 

Return to Hendre Ddu (Seren, 2009)

Return to Hendre Ddu is a tumultuous sequel to Siân James’ classic novel A Small Country. Once again Siân James’ talent for character and dialogue weaves an intriguing tale of early twentieth century family life in rural Wales.

Though Hendre Ddu, the home farm of the Evans family of Carmarthenshire, looks peaceful, it is the middle of the First World war and lives have been shattered here too.

A Small Country ended with Catrin Evans’ sweetheart, Edward, killed in action and now the son of the farm, Tom Evans, returns from the front disabled. The shock is too much for their stalwart housekeeper Nano Rees.

But life goes on and Tom and his father Josi, with his new wife Lowri, have their own battle to fight just keeping the farmhouse afloat. At first all seems to be going well, but increasingly tangled romances and financial realities bring heartache and new challenges for the troubled Evans family.

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