Exploring the fantasies, aspirations and self-deceptions that color everyday lives, these stories home in with wit and understanding on ordinary lives that are extraordinarily well told.

Silly Mothers (Honno Modern Fiction)

Literature & Fiction

Merriman, Catherine

Short Stories & Anthologies

Honno Press

Twisting the everyday in clever and unexpected ways, these short stories transform the mundane into something bright, with a distinct edge. A woman realizes suddenly that she has become invisible; bikers party in a remote mountain pub; an Englishman searches for mustard in a quiet Welsh village; and a housewife’s ordinary life suddenly turns very strange indeed. The collection emphasizes the potential for the extraordinary—even when that may mean a turn to something darker, more tragic, or sordid—and meets these twists with sharp humor and optimism.

Of Sons and Stars (Honno Modern Fiction)

Set in a picturesque seaside village in West Wales at the time of the 1904 Revival, this novel is one of the first books in English to set out a distinctively Welsh literary landscape. An enthralling tale of the complex lives and loves of Gildas, Nancy, Gwenifer and Captain Jack, it will capture the romantic heart of any modern reader.

Queen of the Rushes: A Tale of the Welsh Revival (Honno's Welsh Women's Classics)

Raine, Allen

Contemporary

Country men disguised as women, the Rebecca Rioters rose up against the oppressive imposition of steep taxes at the toll gates of rural Wales in the late 1830s. This story, first published in 1880, tells the tale of Evan Williams, a young working class man struggling to come to terms with the injustice and social inequalities of the world he lives in. His rebellious actions have dramatic consequences not only for himself, but inadvertently, for the woman he loves.

The Rebecca Rioter (Honno's Welsh Women's Classics)

Dillwyn, Amy

Genre Fiction

Spanning 150 years of Welsh women’s experiences living abroad, this compelling collection ventures from southern Europe to South America, Russia to Australia, and east Africa to China. Welsh women sleep in trees in Corsica, escape Stalinist purges in Moscow, and curse head-leaping queue jumpers in China. In Eritrea they concoct a cactus fruit cure for travel sickness and in Serbia they learn how to make a traffic policeman very happy. Through their various experiences the writers ask themselves Who is a Welsh woman, what is she? What is “abroad” and how do you know you’re there? and What is home? A rich celebration of different cultural experiences, this is a highly readable and entertaining anthology.

Even the Rain Is Different: Women Writing on the Highs and Lows of Living Abroad

Literary

Drawing deeply from Lily Tobias’ own experience, this is the moving story about the treatment of conscientious objectors during the World War I. The spoiled daughter of a Cardiff industrialist, Eunice is outraged when her teacher husband refuses to fight. Her refusal to visit him in jail has disastrous consequences and repercussions which still affect her as another war threatens. First published in 1933, this novel was radical political writing for its time, making the suffering of pacifists, rather than the suffering of soldiers, its central concern.

Eunice Fleet (Honno's Welsh Women's Classics)

Tobias, Lily

The Wooden Doctor (Honno's Welsh Women's Classics)

Evans, Margiad

A collection of fiction exploring the theme of extra marital affairs from the perspective of women. 25 stories are included, including entries from Llanelli-born actress Elizabeth Morgan and Jo Verity, who won a 2003 Richard and Judy short story competition with her contribution.

My Cheating Heart: 24 Original Stories of Intrigue, Infidelity and Betrayal

Coming together with a small group of friends, Ann Pettitt started a movement that changed the face of Cold War Britain. Her remarkable memoir tells the real story behind one of the 20th century's most iconic expressions of grass roots political will. She exposes the surprising roots of the march on Greenham Common, how the Peace Camp left the marchers behind, and how those first marchers took their cause direct to the Kremlin. It is an intriguing and challenging look at what shaped a generation of women's lives and made them strong enough to fight for what they truly believed in.

Walking to Greenham: How the Peace-Camp Began and the Cold War Ended

Biographies & Memoirs

Pettitt, Ann

Community & Culture

Elizabeth Andrews was one of the most influential female political activists of the early 20th century; she cared desperately for the suffering she saw around her and vowed to change the lot of miners' wives and mothers in the South Wales valleys. First published in 1957, the book highlights their hard, relentless lives as they coped with overcrowded houses, poor sanitation and the tragically high death rate among their children—it is a rare firsthand account of a childhood and family life in the Rhondda at the end of the 19th century. It describes the pioneering work that led to Andrews becoming the Labour Party's first Women's Organiser for Wales from 1919 to 1947. In this new edition, her newspaper articles on poverty and its impact on mining families are included to give further insight into the struggles of women and the working class for a better life.

A Woman's Work Is Never Done (Honno's Welsh Women's Classics)

Andrews, Elizabeth

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Books by Honno Press