Part One of the Angel Mountain Saga: Pt. 1 - Tapa blanda

A modern Welsh literary triumph... An excellent evocation of the beautiful countryside of the area and the traditions of rural eighteenth-century Wales. It has a page-turning plot, packed with adventure, treason, murder and passion, where the horrors in the drama are balanced by gentle scenes full of the warmth and love of the family at Plas Ingli. And it has, in Martha Morgan, an irresistible narrator and heroine: brave, impetuous, loving, and occasionally vengeful....... The author s intimate knowledge of the subject is apparent on every page. The story is soundly based on historical fact, and allusions to genuine historical people and events give it a feeling of authenticity. But this is more than just a diary of a country lady. Cleverly woven into the text runs a dark and sinister tale.... This book will give pleasure to those who are fascinated by social history and to those who enjoy a gripping tale. --Welsh Books Council

This is a splendidly-imagined and well-told tale of good triumphing over evil. The local colour is brilliantly imagined and the incidental historical detail, unobtrusively woven into the fabric of the narrative, is fascinating. Here is an adventure story in which the narrative never flags. The delineation of the main characters, especially the headstrong and irresistible Mistress Martha, by turns spiritual and earthy, is vivid and true. --Western Telegraph

The writing is vibrant and alive. For someone who had never written fiction before some of the erotic scenes -- not to mention a brilliantly crafted description of a miscarriage -- needed careful handling........ The author lives in one of the most beautiful parts of Britain, and he has used that landscape and scenery to fuel his imagination. --Welsh Books Council

This is a splendidly-imagined and well-told tale of good triumphing over evil. The local colour is brilliantly imagined and the incidental historical detail, unobtrusively woven into the fabric of the narrative, is fascinating. Here is an adventure story in which the narrative never flags. The delineation of the main characters, especially the headstrong and irresistible Mistress Martha, by turns spiritual and earthy, is vivid and true. --Western Telegraph

The writing is vibrant and alive. For someone who had never written fiction before some of the erotic scenes -- not to mention a brilliantly crafted description of a miscarriage -- needed careful handling........ The author lives in one of the most beautiful parts of Britain, and he has used that landscape and scenery to fuel his imagination. --Phil Carradice, Writer's Forum

This is the first novel in the best-selling 8-volume Angel Mountain Saga, about the life and times of the incorrigible, passionate and very imperfect heroine Martha Morgan. In 1796, Martha becomes the mistress of the struggling Plas Ingli estate, at only eighteen years old. She is pregnant and suicidal. Though she loves her husband David dearly, she is desperately lonely in a strange house, and her quick wit and cutting humour make her as many enemies as friends. There are mysteries surrounding the great fire that devastated the estate but Martha's questions about it remain unanswered. Nobody else seems to realize that their haughty servant Moses Lloyd, the disinherited son of the local squire, is not as trustworthy as the rest of the family would like to think. The local gentry consider that Martha is far too clever for her own good, and indeed it seems inevitable that she will fall into a trap which is designed to send her to the gallows. How can she possibly escape?

On Angel Mountain is a gripping tale in the tradition of Winston Graham's Poldark. The world which it portrays is very different from that of Jane Austen -- West Wales in the Regency period was a rougher, tougher place, where there was little respect for the law and where status had to be earned, the hard way. The story is written in the form of a diary, in the words of Martha herself.