Such Sweet Sorrow - Hardcover

Pontypridd 1939. War-time austerity, air raids, blackouts and tensions strain family and community loyalties to breaking point. Ignoring his sweetheart Tina Ronconi's pleas, William Powell, along with thousands of others, volunteer for the Welsh Guards. His sister, Diana, discovers that love isn't enough as she is divided from Tony Ronconi by a secret he can never forgive, she is driven by loneliness to confide in Wyn Rees, himself ostracised for his homosexuality. Women like Bethan, Laura, and Alma say goodbye without knowing when, if ever, they'll see their husbands again and Jenny is abandoned after her wedding by a man who refuses to answer her letters. A group of 'conscies' are brought in to work in the pits and young Gina Ronconi falls fervently in love with one. As war fever sets in, so the persecution of 'enemy aliens' begins and even the Ronconis face internment. But the town feeds on rumour and with every bulletin the people become more tight-lipped. Until the news comes that the allies are retreating on every front and the Welsh Guardds are fighting a rearguard action at Dunkirk. Some will return, many will not and even those who do, life will never be quite the same ag

The follow up to "All That Glitters", this story is set in Pontypridd in 1939. It depicts a community at war and individuals facing private turmoil, love and accommodations with a world that is changing irrevocably.