Miriam, Daniel and Me by Euron Griffith

When he smiled it really did feel as if the chilly Caernarfonshire wind had stopped for a few seconds and as if the place had suddenly got warmer.

When Miriam fell in love with Padraig life seemed simple. But soon she discovered that love is a treacherous business. Everything changed when she met Daniel. She was taken down an unexpected path which would dictate and dominate the rest of her life.

Spanning three generations of a North Wales family in a Welsh-speaking community, Miriam, Daniel and Me is an absorbing and compelling story of family discord, political turmoil, poetry, jealousy…and football.

"...a confidently crafted novel about time, change and enduring love...and the seemingly random decisions that are made and borne by the generations who follow..." – Ed Thomas

Author Bio

Born in Bangor, Euron Griffith has a Creative Writing MA from the University of Glamorgan. Between 2011 and 2016 he published three novels in Welsh – Dyn Pob Un (about a TV researcher who becomes an accidental serial killer), Leni Tiwdor (about a private eye who is also a record collector), Tri Deg Tri (about a hitman who can talk to animals), and a children’s novel Eilian a’r Eryr. His English language short story collection, The Beatles in Tonypandy appeared in 2017 from Dean Street Press.

Griffith lives in Cardiff, where he works as a radio and tv producer and plays in a band. His first novel in English, Miriam, Daniel and Me, is forthcoming from Seren in July 2020.

Buy Link 

https://www.serenbooks.com/productdisplay/miriam-daniel-and-me

Review

Miriam, Daniel and Me is the first book Euron has published in English and I do hope that it does get printed in Welsh at some point. We need to save our local languages and when you have writing like this that can captivate a reader, then it’s a way of strengthening a languages position. But then saying that I can barely speak English let alone another language! Something I hope to rectify soon.

The novel jumps around with its timelines and it took me awhile to get a handle of all the characters. To begin with I thought the child at the start of the book was a girl! But I loved the opening chapter discussing how big or small god can be. I did actually enjoy the narrative jumping around as it made you think and link little nuggets of information together.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially Miriam. Seeing her develop from a young girl, to a teenager in love, and finally an old woman at the end of the book was really interesting. She came across as being a strong person, albeit with post natal depression and a loss of loving life towards the middle of the arc. I also loved how the 60’s vibe of free love even reaches a tiny village in north Wales.

For a book which centres around Welsh poetry I thought there might have been some verse in the actual text. But there wasn’t. I’m still not sure whether I am disappointed by this or not? I’m sure the poems might have added a bit of extra beauty to the book.

I flew through this book and I really enjoyed it. I hope that there is more to come from this author.