Product Description

Trainee midwife Bethan Powell lives in the shadow of the workhouse during the Depression. It's difficult to say which is harder for her and fellow nurse Laura Ronconi - their gruelling work in the hospital, or the frictions and financial hardships at home. Bethan's Communist miner father, rigidly Chapel mother, unruly brothers and delightful but dubiously honest aunt, and Laura's vast Italian cafe-running family, cause the girls as much worry as any difficult case or strict ward sister. But working-class Pontypridd agrees on one thing - the 'crache', or gentry, who live in the big houses on the Common, may be just the other side of town, but they inhabit a different world. So when Bethan and Laura are smitten by two young doctors, can love really bridge the divide? Or is the pull of family too strong, the gulf too wide?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #331989 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

About the Author
Catrin Collier was born and brought up in Pontypridd. She worked in Europe and America before returning to her native Wales. She now lives on the Gower Peninsula near Swansea, with her family.

Customer Reviews

The start of a wonderful series of books
Hearts of Gold is the first in a series of eight books following the fortunes of a small community in Pontypridd in Wales. They are set from before the second world war to just after it. Each book focuses on the same characters but from a a slightly different aspect although still entwining the story around all the characters. Through the books you follow the characters while they grow and suffer the hardships and the ups and downs of life in the mining town. Throughout the story the author makes the reader laugh and cry and feel a number of differing emotions. The series can be read individually but I think that they are well worth reading from start to finish. I read all eight books over a period of two months and found that each one was even more enthralling than the last. Now I've finished the series I feel totally lost as the books are so well written that the characters seemed so real I feel that I've lost my friends. The books were passed to me by my mother and she felt exactly the same about them. The series is Hearts of Gold, One Blue Moon, A Silver Lining, All That Glitters, Such Sweet Sorrow, Past Remembering, Broken Rainbows and finally Spoils of War.

A story of love conquers all. You won't put it down.
This book is centered in Pontypridd in the heart of the depression. Bethan Powell rises from poverty to become a trainee midwife and falls in love with a young, rich doctor, Andrew. The story is of her struggle to better herself. Love, romance, families, poverty - a good read, you won't want to turn out the light

An excellant first read
Even as someone who does not like reading I found it difficult to put this book down. The detail in the writing is excellant and within the first page you are intrigued and want to read more. You soon feel as though you know the characters and even though I have never been in their specific situations I felt as though I could relate to many of the issues raised in the book, and because of this I feel as though I know each character personnally. Although there are alot of characters, their lives intertwine so perfectly, and the detail is so precise, that it is not at all a labourous read, as many books with so much content can be. I finished the book within three days and can not wait to start 'One Blue Moon'. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a heart-warming read, with a few tear jerkers along the way!