Harvest Home

Daniel Hafod rides home from England one fine morning to become Master of ‘Great House’ after the death of his uncle. But his obsessive pride and his dark desire for the pretty dairy-maid Eiluned lead to his downfall, as he and his sailor cousin, Dan, compete for her love. One of Vaughan’s most appealing heroines, Eiluned herself remains steadfast under pressure.


A lyrical evocation of Welsh rural life, Harvest Home is also a tautly-written psychological study of a man driven mad by desire which draws on the history of wreckers then active on the Welsh sea-coast, the legend of Blodeuwedd from the Mabinogi, and superstitions associated with ‘Nos Calangaeaf’ (All Hallows Eve) when spirit voices call out the names of those soon to die. Hilda Vaughan’s portrayal of ‘Abercoran’ (another name for Laugharne where she often stayed) vividly depicts its striking estuarine landscape as well as using some of the folklore associated with the area.