THE BLARB: In ‘The Mothers of Tobergell’ Alana Beth Davies tells the fascinating stories of four generations of women, connected not only by blood but through the strength, determination and power of maternal love and sacrifice. The first half of the twentieth century in Wales and Ireland is the carefully described setting in which Blanche, Daisy, Caitlin and Mirna live their lives, affected by national and world events and by tragedies and triumphs of their own. The characters are brought alive by Alana Beth Davies’ thoroughly researched, captivating and precise writing.
THE REVIEW: If you love a family saga you should read this book. And if a family saga isn’t your thing you should read it anyway, because it’s so beautifully written you won’t be able to put it down.
The Mothers of Tobergell by Alana Beth Davies may be rooted in the domestic misadventures of a single – albeit extended – family, but it still has a grand sweep that elevates it far above the ‘kitchen sink’, as it were, encompassing the struggle for Irish independence and the Second World War.
Against this sprawling backdrop we follow the tangled timeline of four generations of the Cockin family, as Blanche begets Daisy who begets Caitlin who begets Mirna. Naturally, the Cockin surname gets shed along the way as the story moves from Ireland to south Wales and back again, as the various relatives endure explosive revelations, personal tragedies and political upheavals. But the invisible chords that bind family members together are strong, and at some point they’re going to realise that the only way they’re going survive it all is by standing together.
Aren’t they?
The focus throughout is consistently female, and we see these events unfolding through the eyes of the women who have to clean up the blood, deliver the babies and care for the stricken.
But then, of course this book has a female perspective. The clue’s in the title!
As an author, Alana Beth Davies obviously has a very clear line of communication between her mind and her pen. The sense of place she can evoke in just a few words is amazing. In these pages the landscapes of south Wales and Ireland come alive, as do the characters occupying them. You can smell the dew and sense the dread. Across these two worlds, separated by a slim stretch of ocean, events move quickly, each drama setting off the next like a line of dominos. But no matter what fate throws at them, the characters are always fully realised and the twisting plotlines compelling. The cover promises that this is ‘Book One’ of the saga of The Mothers of Tobergell. I await book two with keen interest.
THE AUTHOR: Alana has had a number of careers – lecturer, politician, B&B landlady, dollshouse impresario – all while raising a family of 5 daughters, but it wasn’t until she had retired from all of these that she started to write in earnest.
Although Alana had been writing short stories and poems since a teenager, it was a part-time course in Creative Writing with the Open University that convinced her this was something she could take seriously.
In the past few years, she has written and published collections of short stories and of poems, and a number of children’s stories. Also, she has helped other aspiring authors by editing their work, and has self-published books on their behalf.
Alana achieved a Masters degree in Creative Writing at the University of Wales Trinity St Davids in 2023, and enjoyed every minute of it. Joining the Swansea & District Writers’ Circle has been a revelation, providing support and camaraderie, as well as invaluable feedback and constructive comments, and she is proud to be the current Chair.
THE MOTHERS OF TOBERGELL by Alana Beth Davies is available now from Amazon.
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