Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant Hapus!

Happy Saint David's Day! Or in Welsh, "Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant Hapus!" The Irish say "Kiss me, I'm Irish" for St. Patrick's Day. I'm not sure what the Welsh say. But you can raise a toast, perhaps of the fine single malt Welsh whisky, Penderyn (available in Edmonton at Chateau Louis Liquor Store), saying "cheers" in Welsh, "Iechyd da".

I suggested a couple of Wales-related books for the St. Albert Gazette book picks this week:

Even Money by Dick Francis    The recently deceased Francis was thoroughly English, and lived for many years in Florida and the Cayman Islands, but he was born in Wales. His long run of well-written crime novels, which began with 1962's Dead Cert ended with 2009's Even Money. As with his other recent titles, Even Money was co-written with his son Felix Francis. This final novel has all the elements his fans expect: a dastardly crime, horse racing and a handsome, everyman hero.

The Cold Light of Morning by Elizabeth J. Duncan     A cozy mystery for a cozy nation. Duncan is a Canadian writer who lives some of the year in Wales. Here she has sets her tale in North Wales, with a Canadian expatriate manicurist as her amateur sleuth.

Last year for St. David's Day I suggested two interesting novels:

Resistance by Owen Sheers     A "what if" novel that re-imagines Welsh history: what if Germany had invaded Britain in World War Two? The novel opens in 1944 - D-Day has failed and Prime Minister Winston Churchill flees to Canada. In an isolated Welsh village the women awake to find their men gone - to resist the Nazis - and German soldiers knocking at their doors. Intriguing premise, with a focus on relationships rather than politics and war.

August by Gerard Woodward    The first in a trilogy of brilliant but bleak novels about the deeply troubled Jones family, continued in I'll Go To Bed at Noon and A Curious Earth. An accident on a Welsh bicycle trip in 1955 leads Aldous Jones to the farm that becomes the site of family holidays over the next 15 summers.