Have you ever asked your grandmother or your great-grandmother what things were like in the good old days, and then she told you stories that filled your mind with images of a world far removed from your own … a world where children became excited by getting an apple and an orange at Christmas, a world where ladies never went without a hat, a world where it seemed that Every Day Was Summer. This is the world that Oliver Wynne Hughes brings alive and captures in his book.
Based on the memories of his mother, Laura, and her two sisters, Elsie and Beatrice, the reader is transported back to a place and time filled with happy memories and presented through a picture of the Welsh town of Harlech, prior to the First World War. Every Day Was Summer is steeped in history and nostalgia, making the reader yearn for a bygone time. Everything from shops and schooldays to childhood games and chapel are all lovingly remembered and explored throughout the pages of this book.
The book takes the reader on a journey through Harlech: we visit the townspeople through various good humoured anecdotes – and for a town with a population of just over 1000 people, it certainly had its fair share of famous people visiting or choosing to live in the picturesque seaside town. The Queen visited and was said to be mesmerised by the view; another visitor was Denys Finch Hatton, an adventurer made famous by the book ‘Out of Africa’, who also spent many a summer in the town. Everything from shops and schooldays to childhood games and chapel are all lovingly remembered and explored throughout the pages of this book.
Although Hughes conjures up wonderful images of Harlech in the reader’s mind, he does not shy away from the tragedy that sadly touched the town. Hughes peppers his book with the hardships that the townspeople of Harlech faced, from families touched by poverty to the tragedy that hit many families with the start of the World War One. That said, at no time does the book become morose or bitter; it keeps its whimsical style throughout and is an absolute pleasure to read.
I think every family should have an Oliver Wynne Hughes to capture its history through photograph, poem and anecdote so we do not let our children forget the places and people who have touched our hearts and our memories.
