My Heart on My Sleeve

Honno have done it again! This forever-expanding Welsh womens press was set up in 1986; their aim is to develop the writing talents of women in Wales. Today their lists include many highly-regarded authors. My Heart on my Sleeve certainly demonstrates their achievement. The stories are edited with empathy and finesse by Janet Thomas who shows her usual knack in choosing just the right mix of styles in this anthology. How thought-provoking is Angharad Penrhyn Joness The Vegetable Beds. She tells of Essylt, her husband Sams infidelity and a garden. It is a gentle yet humorous tale of love lost. The Jiltmaker is a poignant story of a saleslady, a bride and a dress and depth of love, written by Sarah Todd Taylor. Jane Ann Joness The Pilgrims and The Foolish Maid by Dilys Cadwaladr have been sympathetically translated from the Welsh original by Cathryn Charnell-White. Two very distinctive authors, two beautifully honed stories, now accessible to the English-speaking reader for the first time what a bonus! Janet Thomas has skilfully selected her stories, starting with a tale of a schoolgirls first love: he squeezes my hand before I rush off to my prefect duties. Neville is incredibly handsome. He looks like a young Cary Grant, and continuing through to Sarah Jackmans Leaves and Geese, a story of great charm and poignancy written in the voice of an elderly man: Is that how she does it? Is that her secret to seeming so serene, so certain? Each day the world would seem to me a little more complicated, a notion more unfathomable. My attempts to grip on can leave me covered in a cold sweat of shame. Sometimes the fear of how well manage when ill-health and frailty strike keeps me from looking Gina in the eye. There are few of us who will not relate to one episode or another in this collection. Norma Penfold It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from , with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar , trwy ganiatd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. – Welsh Books Council

Janet Thomasis a freelance editor and a formerHonno Presseditor. She is the editor of “Mirror Mirror “and “Safe World Gone.””