Product Description

Giles Freeman is delighted when his wife Claire inherits an old cottage in a remote village in Wales. Y Groves is small, friendly and very alluring - the perfect escape from London. But American reporter Berry Morelli tries to talk Giles out of moving, believing something is very wrong.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120994 in Books
• Published on: 1993-02-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

Dark magic
I live in Wales, am Welsh to the backbone and was brought up on the legends behind this novel (well, all of them except the Black Gorsedd for which I am truly grateful) and it still managed to give me the creeps. Mr. Rickman has an incredibly clever way of putting a new spin on old legends and the way he managed to transform the first welcoming image of Y Groes into the chilling suffocation of what lay beneath the surface was magnificent. It isn't quite as smooth as some of his other books but I would firmly recommend it. When half way through reading it I had to take a short cut between two places where I was working - a short cut that took me up an isolated, single track road reputedly haunted both by spirits and the tylwyth teg. Normally it is one of my favourite runs - that day I couldn't stop checking my rear view mirror - such is the power of Mr. Rickman's writings.

Subtle and Understated Horror!!
I only recently discovered Phil Rickman accidently while leafing through a used book shop. I'm hooked!!
I think this is the first book that he wrote and it shows in that it's not quite as polished as the others and doesn't really have a satisfactory climax as lots of questions are left unanswered. However, don't let that put you off. Superbly written, subtle and understated, definitely for those who prefer their horror more psychological than in your face gore.
I go to Wales on holiday quite regularly, living just the other side of the Severn Bridge as I do, but I'll definitely be looking beneath that Welsh Welcome from now on!

A welcome in the hillside...
An almost-forgotten village in darkest Wales hides a terrifying secret and keeps alive the flame of a very bloody and dark form of Welsh nationalism. Rickman's first novel is suffused with an understanding of the dark underbelly of Celtic culture - it wasn't all tree hugging and face paint - and builds an atmosphere of almost suffocating menace in Y Groes, particularly around the church and rectory. Though not as even in plotting and character development than some of his later work (this is very much a new author getting into his stride) it's enough to have got many people hooked on his particular take on the macabre. If you've ever had any doubts about keeping a welcome in the hillside this will probably reinforce them - and I doubt it comes with Welsh tourist board endorsement...