Empty Chair

The Welsh poet Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans) is very much in the news these days because of his death at the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, and this translation of a novel about him and his family that won the Welsh Tir na n-Og Award in 2014 is timely and very welcome. Sensitively written and with a lyricism that has a Welsh voice all of its own, it tells of the close and loving family that Ellis comes from, his decision to enlist so that his younger brother, almost 18, won’t have to go, and of life on Yr Ysgwrn, the family farm near Trawsfynydd in north Wales.



The story is told by Anni, his almost 14-year-old sister, and as it is a large extended family, we meet many others as well. There is Lora, Anni’s cousin, a year older than Anni and her best friend, and there are Lora’s parents, her father having just returned from the Battle of Mametz with life-changing facial injuries.



Ellis is no soldier, and everyone knows it; he is the dreamy sort, a poet who has won prizes at local Eisteddfodau and when Ifor’s horrifying facial injuries become apparent to all in the village, the family fear deeply for Ellis. The war is almost a character in the story. Its impact on everyone is palpable and their everyday lives are affected in ways that are hard for us to realise. This is a small farming community, somewhat naïve and trusting in nature, and the horrors that war has brought are difficult to comprehend.



It is Anni’s story, her warm and loving relationship with Ellis, who has been her strong support, and her beginning to grow up as the practical realities of life come home, is moving and very believable. Her realisation, too, of Lora’s growing sexuality with new boy Huw must be recognised and dealt with.



Ellis is a rather shadowy character in the story, always there, always thought about, loved and part of the family, but ultimately he becomes the empty chair – the chair that he won at the 1917 National Eisteddfod after his death at Passchendaele. Not a happy story, then, though there is a happy ending of sorts, but a strong and poignant short novel of life in the early 20th century with its hard work and unsentimental ways. I should have liked to have a translation of Ellis’ awdl, his winning Eisteddfod poem, but there is a lovely translation of 'Gwenfron and I', one of his poems, which makes one want to know more.



Everyone will love this book – adults, children, teenagers and all – and it is the perfect way to tell us about the ‘war to end all wars’ – which didn’t. ~Elizabeth Schlenther @ www.gwales.com