Rhys Davies: A Writer’s Life by Meic Stephens - review by David Collard

David Collard

Chekhov in the Rhondda

Rhys Davies: A Writer’s Life

By

Parthian 354pp £20)
 

At first glance Rhys Davies (1901–78) is not a promising subject for a biography. For most of his working life he supported himself exclusively by his pen, without recourse to journalism, broadcasting, teaching or any kind of hack work. Such a career was hazardous at the time and would be almost inconceivable today. Indifferent to fame, he was hard-working and prolific – producing more than a hundred short stories, twenty novels, three novellas, two topographical studies of Wales, two plays and an unreliable autobiography entitled Print of a Hare’s Foot which Cyril Connolly, writing in The Sunday Times in 1969, described as ‘a chronicle of a completely uneventful life without strong ties or affections’. 

Therein lies the challenge. Davies, an obsessively private man, was a virtual recluse with no close links to his contemporaries, no serious or long-term relationships (he was discreetly and promiscuously homosexual, with a taste for Guardsmen), no public persona or links to any literary milieu and no political affiliations. He

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

RLF - March

A Mirror - Westend

Follow Literary Review on Twitter