Queen of the Rushes: A Tale of the Welsh Revival

Queen of the Rushes, first published in 1906, has been out of print for fifty years, but this powerful and accomplished novel can now be enjoyed again. Set in a seaside village in West Wales at the time of the 1904 Revival, the novel relate the enthralling tale of the lives and complex loves of Gildas, Nancy, Gwenifer, and Captain Jack. Eminently readable, and with touches of humour; this is nevertheless a serious attempt - one of the first in English - to map out a distinctively Welsh literary landscape. Katie Gramich's fascinating introduction situates Allen Raine's last novel against its literary background and points to its significance in the Anglo-Welsh tradition and in Welsh women's writing. It was the eighth of Allen Raine's novels and is considered by many to be her best.