<P> The novel is set in South Wales during the reign of Queen Victoria . It tells the story of the Morgans, a respectable mining family of the South Wales Valleys, through the eyes of one of the sons, Huw Morgan . </P> <P> Huw's academic ability sets him apart from his elder brothers and enables him to consider a future away from the dangerous coal mines . His five brothers and his father are miners . After his eldest brother, Ivor, is killed in a mining accident, Huw moves in with his sister - in - law, Bronwen, with whom he has always been in love . </P> <P> One of Huw's three sisters, Angharad, marries the wealthy mine owner's son--whom she does not love--and the marriage is an unhappy one . She never overcomes her clandestine relationship with the local minister . </P> <P> Huw's father is later killed in a mine explosion . After everyone Huw has known either dies or moves away, and the town is reduced to a contaminated shell, he decides to leave, and tells the story of his life just before going away . </P>

Richard llewelyn's book how green was my valley