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A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees Paperback – 16 Jun. 2010

by Clare Dudman (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars 29 ratings
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Impoverished and oppressed in their own country, they'd been promised paradise on earth: a land flowing with milk and honey. But what the settlers found after a devastating sea journey was a cold South American desert where, it seemed, nothing could survive. Yet this desert was home to the nomadic Tehuelche.

A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees is a lyrical evocation of the trials of the colonists as they battle to survive hunger, loss, and internal rivalries. Based on a true story, the settlers are Welsh, their New World is Patagonia, at the southernmost extremity of Argentina. Silas James fears he has been tricked into sacrificing everything he loves for another man's impossible dream. But despite his hatred of the politically adept Edwyn Lloyd, and under the watchful eye of Indian shaman Yeluc, a new culture takes root as an old one passes away.

To research A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees Dudman travelled across the Patagonian desert in a bus, and then took The Old Patagonian Express in the Andes. Along the way she interviewed the descendants of Welsh settlers who came here in 1865. Other research for this novel included intensive courses in Welsh and shamanism.

Clare Dudman was born in North Wales. She has a PhD in Chemistry and has worked as a postdoctoral Research Associate in UMIST, a development scientist in industry, a science teacher, a lecturer and as a creative writing tutor for the WEA and the MA in creative writing at University College Chester. She is a member of the Welsh Academy. In 1995 her children's novel Edge of Danger won the Kathleen Fidler award and in 2001 an excerpt from Wegener's Jigsaw won an Arts Council of England Writers award.

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  1. Print length
    276 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Seren
  4. Publication date
    16 Jun. 2010
  5. Dimensions
    13.34 x 2.29 x 20.96 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    1854115189
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1854115188
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Product description

About the Author

Clare Dudman is the author of 98 Reasons for Being and One Day the Ice Will Reveal All Its Dead, the editor of The Writers’ Workshop, and the recipient of a Kathleen Fidler Award.



Clare Dudman is the author of 98 Reasons for Being and One Day the Ice Will Reveal All Its Dead, the editor of The Writers’ Workshop, and the recipient of a Kathleen Fidler Award.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Seren
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 16 Jun. 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 276 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1854115189
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1854115188
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 340 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.34 x 2.29 x 20.96 cm
  • Best Sellers Rank: 1,108,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer reviews:
    3.8 out of 5 stars 29 ratings

About the author

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Clare Dudman

Clare Dudman

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Clare Dudman is the author of four novels: EDGE OF DANGER (winner of the Kathleen Fidler award); ONE DAY THE ICE WILL REVEAL ALL ITS DEAD (in the US) /WEGENER'S JIGSAW (in the UK) (with the help of an Arts Council of England Writers Award); 98 REASONS FOR BEING and A PLACE OF MEADOWS AND TALL TREES.

She has also contributed to various anthologies including LIKE CANUTE in 'Beacons: Stories For Our Not Too Distant Future'; THE DREADFUL STORY OF HARRIET AND THE MATCHES in 'Prize Flights' (winner of the Cheshire Prize For Literature); THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE in 'Perverted by Language' and ECZEMA in 'Logorrhea'.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
29 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and appreciate the well-drawn characters among the settlers. The plot receives mixed reactions, with some finding it an interesting read about a subject, while others note it lacks real structure.

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ReadabilityCharacterizationPlot
6 customers mention ‘Readability’6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written and engaging, with one noting that it improves with continued reading.

"A good read and I learnt an awful lot from it that I wasn't aware of. Something different and worth the nother" Read more

"...It is an excellent book and has taught me, in a most enjoyable way, about a period in history that I knew nothing about. Well worth reading." Read more

"A well written book of a time of great struggle heartbreak and hardships...." Read more

"Got better the more you read...." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Characterization’5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the well-drawn characters among the settlers in the book, with one customer noting how it is loosely based on real people, and another mentioning how it describes the local Indians.

"...It also describes the local Indians, their way of life and their, in the main, peaceful and inquisitive nature...." Read more

"...a bit bogged down in the story, but there were some well-drawn characters among the settlers, their leaders, and also the native Indians...." Read more

"...The book is loosely-based on real people and events which gives it an extra dimension of reality." Read more

"...content while still giving flight to the imagination and good development of characters that the reader cares about. Recommended." Read more

12 customers mention ‘Plot’8 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the plot of the book, with some finding it an interesting read about a subject and informative, while another customer notes it lacks real structure.

"This book tells the story, via fiction, of the heroic Welsh immigrants who settled in Patagonia from 1865...." Read more

"...by sticking closely to the historical events, the novel lacks real structure and just fizzles out at the end...." Read more

"Interesting subject matter which I knew little about - other than that Welsh emigrants had indeed made a new life in Patagonia in the past - so I..." Read more

"I really enjoyed this book. The story-telling was excellent and takes the reader on a journey of happiness, dispair, faith, loyalty and courage as a..." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Scooby
    5.0 out of 5 stars Patagonia
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 December 2012
    Verified Purchase
    This book tells the story, via fiction, of the heroic Welsh immigrants who settled in Patagonia from 1865. It contains tragedy and pathos but also hope, and we know that the Welsh succeeded in their endeavours. It also describes the local Indians, their way of life and their, in the main, peaceful and inquisitive nature. It is an excellent book and has taught me, in a most enjoyable way, about a period in history that I knew nothing about. Well worth reading.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • M MYDDLE
    3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Interesting subject matter which I knew little about - other than that Welsh emigrants had indeed made a new life in Patagonia in the past - so I was looking forward to reading this novel. Got a bit bogged down in the story, but there were some well-drawn characters among the settlers, their leaders, and also the native Indians. The hardship and sadness endured by the Welsh farmers in their new homeland contrasted starkly with life in the cities, and knowing that the story was based on true events made it all the more poignant.
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  • read and read...
    4.0 out of 5 stars A good read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I really enjoyed this book. The story-telling was excellent and takes the reader on a journey of happiness, dispair, faith, loyalty and courage as a small group of Welsh try to hack out a life in the Patagonian desert. The book is loosely-based on real people and events which gives it an extra dimension of reality.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Moira mcmorran
    5.0 out of 5 stars Prompt delivery good purchase
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Read for my book club interesting subject
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  • J. Lock
    2.0 out of 5 stars Slow And Disappointing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I just couldn't get into this book at all. The plot sounds interesting, a group of Welsh who travel to the other side of the world to start a new colony.

    However the plot is quite dull, and really is about personality clashes. There is also random thoughts from a local Indian "I see white man come" type dialogue.

    For most of the book the chapters are only about 2 pages which might annoy some readers. The last 20% of the book is the most interesting, but I still found myself counting down the pages till the end.

    If you like BBC period dramas from the end of the 19th centaury and/or are very interested in the Welsh in Patagonia then possibly this is for you. If not skip it. I'm very glad I picked this up on special offer.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Brian Clegg
    5.0 out of 5 stars A sense of place
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 November 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Before reading Clare Dudman's new novel, A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees, I was only vaguely aware of a Welsh presence in Patagonia. I knew, in a Trivial Pursuits kind of way, that there was a pocket of Welsh speaking down there in South America, and I had the bizarre fictional images from Malcolm Pryce's wonderful noir detective stories set in a fantasy Aberystwyth (like Abertystwyth, Mon Amour), where Patagonia is frequently referred to as the Welsh equivalent of Vietnam, with war veterans cropping up in the stories now and again. But I knew nothing of the real nineteenth century attempt to colonize part of Patagonia.

    Although the book is a novel it really does capture the historical context beautifully - you can feel the hardship of reaching the place, only to discover that the promised meadows and tall trees are actually scrubland and bare earth. The colonists battle against remarkable odds, losing loved ones and nearly starving. The author is always wonderful at giving us a feel of what it's like to live in a different environment, and I've never seen it done better. Lyrical and informative in equal parts, this is a novel that a non-fiction reader can appreciate for its descriptive content while still giving flight to the imagination and good development of characters that the reader cares about. Recommended.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • D. Gough
    3.0 out of 5 stars Got better the more you read.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 February 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I thought I'd give this a try as it was different to anything I'd read before. Still a little unsure about it. It was interesting but lacked that something to make me want to carry on reading.
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  • pusscat
    5.0 out of 5 stars Book purchase
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 December 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Bought on the daily kindle for .99p. It arrived in good time and was well packaged, have yet to read the book
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Debra Hamel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tall Trees and Welsh Snakes
    Reviewed in the United States on 16 January 2011
    Verified Purchase
    DISCLAIMER: The author is a friend of mine, so you may worry that my praise of her book is due to bias, whether conscious or unconscious. The latter may be the case, of course, but I'd invite you to read her book yourself to see if my high opinion is justified. I can only repeat the conversation I had with my eight-year-old daughter the other day:

    "This is Clare's book. She's a really, really good writer."
    "Then why does she talk to *you*?"

    I think it's because I'm lucky.
    -----

    It was clear to Silas, at least, from the start: the New Wales they'd been promised in Patagonia was a fiction. The other colonists were more apt to be persuaded by their charismatic leader's claims, whatever the evidence of their own eyes. Edwyn Lloyd promised them lush meadows and tall trees, a future for their families and for Welsh culture in South America. What they got was a desert.

    Clare Dudman's 2010 novel A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees tells the story of the Welsh colonization of Patagonia in the 19th century. Her work is fiction, but it's based on real-life events, and several of her characters are fleshed out from what little is known of the early settlers. Dudman's focus is on Silas James and his wife Megan, who endure more as a result of their emigration than most of the colonists. Their story is in fact almost unendurably sad, so that one wants to tell the author to stop heaping sorrows on these poor people, but it's not her fault: their tragedies were in fact suffered by their real-life counterparts, Aaron and Rachel Jenkins, who sailed to Patagonia with the first group of settlers in 1865.

    The villain of Dudman's story is Edwyn Lloyd, who holds sway over the colonists longer than he should because of his fiery oratory. He's a man with a vision and, it seems, limited conscience, a snake whose arrival on the scene usually signals further trouble. But one of the best moments for me in the book is about 40 pages from the end, when Edwyn for once stands out as a voice of reason and we see at once how complex his character and his relationship with Silas are.

    An important part of the colonists' experience in Patagonia relates to the local Indian tribes, nomads who follow the migration of the llama-like guanaco. Part of Dudman's story is told from the point of view of an Indian shaman, Yeluc, who is the first native to make contact with the settlers. Through Yeluc we see that the experience of the soon-to-be-displaced Indians parallels to an extent that of the Welsh, who have left their homes in part to preserve their culture in the face of suppression by the English.

    A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees is beautifully written and powerful. Also surprising: going into it I already knew more or less what it would be about, yet I was still caught off-guard repeatedly at how the author chose to tell the story. That it's a beautiful read, however, did not come as a surprise. I expected nothing less from the author of One Day the Ice Will Reveal All Its Dead.
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