… my painting inspired by Pierro della Francesca’s Madonna del Parto… has become a cover for Parthian’s new edition of The Battle to the Weak by Hilda Vaughan, published in their Library of Wales series. I’m afraid I haven’t a copy of it yet, and so this image was downloaded from the Parthian website. However when I have the book in my hand, then I’ll scan it and post a better version. The synopsis too has been borrowed from the publisher’s website.
Synopsis
In the first and arguably the finest of Hilda Vaughan’s ten novels, the dawn of the twentieth century brings a new generation that clashes with the conservative traditionalism of an old Welsh way of life. Rhys Lloyd and his engagement with the ideas of Social Darwinism and the League of Nations make him a dangerous figure in the village. The son of a Welsh-speaking Nonconformist, his love for the church-going Esther reflects tensions that have long and bitterly divided the community. Most striking, however, is the stoic and determined Esther who calmly suffers the casual brutality of her agricultural upbringing, drawing on an inner strength and organic spirituality that would provide an archetype for Vaughan’s later heroines.
The book was Hilda Vaughan’s first novel, originally published in 1925.
