Hunters and Hunted

This novel covers a winter, a spring and a summer in the lives of three young Welshmen. Although the three share a common environment, one—Beynon—is a man apart. He is a juggler with words, and lives on shreds of hope that depend in a curious way on the mystery of these created words. Amoral and often immoral, he is seldom vitally concerned with truth and beauty in the orthodox sense. Miskin hunts objectively—foxes, hares and women. He is fundamentally a law unto himself. The third, Williams, is a happy, sentimental extrovert, his roots well bedded in the family and tribe. On all three, Doris May James has her effect—a life-gift to Beynon, a necessity for Miskin, an experience and a quick pain to Williams. Then there is Louisa, who stands for everything in opposition to Doris May; Beynon swings wordily between them, cool and warm, warm and cool. This is the real Wales—mountain air, trout streams, pubs and valleys. Yet Beynon is a man who could have been anywhere.