Hearts of Gold is the first in a series of eight books following the fortunes of a small community in Pontypridd in Wales. They are set from before the second world war to just after it. Each book focuses on the same characters but from a a slightly different aspect although still entwining the story around all the characters. Through the books you follow the characters while they grow and suffer the hardships and the ups and downs of life in the mining town. Throughout the story the author makes the reader laugh and cry and feel a number of differing emotions. The series can be read individually but I think that they are well worth reading from start to finish. I read all eight books over a period of two months and found that each one was even more enthralling than the last. Now I've finished the series I feel totally lost as the books are so well written that the characters seemed so real I feel that I've lost my friends. The books were passed to me by my mother and she felt exactly the same about them. The series is Hearts of Gold, One Blue Moon, A Silver Lining, All That Glitters, Such Sweet Sorrow, Past Remembering, Broken Rainbows and finally Spoils of War.