One of the few novels to merge from, and concern itself with, the industrial communities of the South Wales valleys. Here the lives of the mining community and its women are vividly portrayed as they struggle to come to terms with the death of a young miner, a loss which is unhappily a common occurence. Yet for all its tragic subject matter, Gallie's tale also conveys the warmth and gusto of the community's life by means of a witty use of language in a style that has often been favourably compared to that of Gwyn Thomas.
