SING IN THE DARK

A fine addition to the series is a novel of late 19th century immigrant Welsh coal miners in the Pennsylvania anthracite district. The black danger of the mines and collieries, dark rivalries and warm friendships, and the deep Welsh religious and musical traditions are the elements skillfully played against each other in the chronicle of young Huw Griffith's failures and successes. Huw's gift of song and his desire to be a composer, lie in dramatic contrast to his probable destiny as a miner. There is a rapport as he works- as a breaker boy and a door boy, as he saves his Polish friend Joey's life and fights for him against the bully Cadugan, as he sees the first glimmers of hope for a new life under the guidance of the musical Llewellyn and the preparations for the Eisteddfod that open the door to a scholarship. Authentic and sympathetic, this has the feeling of a people in their richness and their plight and should rank with the best in young literature.