THE WELSH HARP

When a Welsh family immigrates to America, a young girl wonders whether she’ll ever be able to play her grandfather’s harp in this YA novel.

Before Gwen Thomas, her parents and her brothers leave Wales for Kentucky in 1903, she makes sure that her grandfather’s harp comes along, using all her savings to help pay for shipping. Her dream is to play the harp as her grandfather did. But life in America is harsh, especially at first. Their first home is a tiny shack; the local kids play rough; and then there are more important hardships, including a dangerous flood. Gwen finds her desires fighting with the many practical necessities of helping her family. Will she ever be able to achieve her dream? Davies (The Truth About Katie, 2013) bases her story in part on a handwritten family memoir, drawing on it for such episodes as the Atlantic passage and the family’s arrival at Ellis Island. The author animates the early 20th century with details such as the vendor crying out “Sand oh, Sand oh!” from house to house, selling sand to scour floors. Figuring out the social class of this family is confusing: In Wales, their rented house is spacious, with four bedrooms; the younger boy is dressed in a “little Lord Fauntleroy suit,” meaning velvet knickerbockers with a fancy lace shirt; and Gwen is able to save 4 pounds in a few months of work—the equivalent of more than $600 today. This doesn’t seem like a family driven by economic necessity to emigrate. The dialogue and pace can be somewhat plodding, with children often sounding overly formal: “Before we could come out and identify ourselves, she left at a fast pace down the path toward home,” says young Edwin, describing a childish prank. On the plus side, Davies gives Gwen some realistic, serious challenges to overcome in America, such as dealing with her mother’s depression following a stillbirth: “Why couldn’t her mother just be a mother?”

Readers will find much to empathize with in Gwen’s struggle to contribute to her family without losing sight of herself.