Latest News

Wales’ relationship with Halloween is very different to the Americanised horror-fest we’re used to. Noson Galan Gaeaf, or Winter’s Eve is an ancient festival rooted in the land and nature. This is the end of the harvest, the start of a hard winter and a time for spirits and superstition. A Welsh Witch by Allen Raine emphasises the connection between the natural world and spirituality, whether it is pagan or Christian or something else.

This month’s Classic Read takes us back to the 1920’s and the time that followed after the general strike. A time that, despite 100 years distance, tackles problems relevant and rife with our modern hardship. Strike for a Kingdom by Menna Gaille is a small book that packs a big, revolutionary punch.

Many Roads aims to highlight the marginalised voices of refugee women as well as celebrate the lives of immigrant and migrant women in Wales. The experiences and stories of these women show the several hurdles that many have had to overcome, and are still overcoming in some cases, including racism, in order to forge a new life in a new home.

Already this month the scene has been set for Hilda Vaughan’s Harvest Home and immediately upon opening the book we are transported to the west coast of Wales, to a manor house overlooking the sea at the end of the summer season.

At 50, Sophie Calon’s father was a celebrated lawyer. At 55, he was found dead on a garage forecourt at Christmas. Meanwhile he had pinballed between homeless shelters, prison cells, and dry-out hostels. His story is a lesson in how alcoholism corrodes a person – and a family.

Following the publication of Meredith Miller’s Fall River by Honno in March 2024, we are excited to announce that we have signed Miller’s next book Cold Grace, a tense and compelling historical novel set in New England.

Dew on the Grass is a snap shot into an early twentieth century rural childhood, rich with rolling fields, babbling streams and ripe blackberries. Lucy a nine-year-old girl narrates the story with heady imagination and eagerness. She is enthusiastic, moralistic and at times wonderfully naïve, allowing the reader to step back into our own early childhood and see the world afresh.

Honno is excited to announce that we have signed Dancing on Knives, an enthralling and twisting debut from award-winning author Joanne Rush.

Honno is excited to announce that we have signed The Stranger in My House by Judith Barrow. A thrilling and gritty domestic suspense, The Stranger in My House will mark Judith’s eight novel with Honno.

After the death of their mum, twins Chloe and Charlie are shocked when their dad introduces Lynne as their ‘new mummy’. Lynne, a district nurse, is trusted in the community, but the twins can see her kind smile doesn’t meet her eyes. In the months that follow they can only try to survive as Lynne will stop at nothing in her need to be in control.

With June being Pride Month, Jill by Amy Dillwyn is an obvious pick for our Classics Challenge. Dillwyn’s exploration of unrequited same-sex romance is nearly 150 years old (100 years older than Pride), but Dillwyn’s forward thinking and eagerness to break the mould makes this book feel modern and well suited to our June reading list, but equally would entertain us throughout the year.

The Rebecca Rioter by Amy Dillwyn is based around the well-known (at least in Wales) riots where male rioters notoriously dressed as women to attack toll-gates. The narration of this story is done by Edward Llewelyn who was a perfect fit for immersing listeners into South Wales in the early 19th Century.

At the start of April the postman laboured towards my house with the latest book in the Welsh Women’s Classic series. This giant tome contained three volumes of Ann of Swansea’s (or Ann Julia Hatton’s) Cambrian Pictures, an epic series set in North Wales.