Black Eyed Devils

Author: Catrin Collier
Publisher: Accent Press Ltd. 2009

This book is about a secret love story between Tom Kelly and Amy Watkins.

Tom is 23 years old, comes from Ireland and looks tall and handsome. His eyes are dark and gleam. That is why the title of this book is Black-Eyed Devils. He has only been in Tonypandy in Wales for a couple of weeks and he is on his way to America to make a fortune but the town's people think he came there to steal their jobs.

Amy is 19 years old and her family are Welsh. She is tall, slender with silver blonde hair and looks attractive. She falls in love with Tom very quickly, in a week, and dreams of a future with the stranger.

Amy's family warn her that she should not be close to him because Tonypandy in 1911 is a dangerous place for the Irish. However, unfortunately Tom has become a blackleg as a victim of deception, because when he lived in Ireland he signed a legal document agreeing to work in the colliery. Finally he is treated as a blackleg man and his ribs are splintered and his lung is pierced. His right arm is broken in three places, his left in two, worst of all his skull is fractured by Amy's third brother Mark and some of his friends.

It is because Mark hated Tom, he saw Tom and Amy were kissing each other outside of the front door of Amy's house. However, eventually Tom and Amy have been offered to go to America together by a secret person.

I would like to ask the readers; do you think they indeed have to believe the secret helper? If you read this book very carefully, you will find the truth and it makes you realise that the story was turned around. While I was reading this book, I felt it was an interesting story about their secret love in spite of their risky situation. They fell in love with each other in a week even though there were lots of risks. They did not fear their situation and worry about people's gossip in a small town. I think on the one hand, they are so romantic and a lovely couple. On the other hand, they had to feel pain at the cost of their love.

I would like to recommend this book to teenagers or foreign students. It will be interesting and they will learn a little of early 20C's history.

Reviewed by: Ho-Kyoung Song