Wartime in the Valleys Books in Order

The Wartime in the Valleys series takes readers to Dorcalon, a fictional mining village in the Welsh valleys during the First World War. The war is always present, even when the characters are far from the front. Men leave for service, food and money are scarce, and every family waits for news that could change everything.

At the heart of the series is a community where people know one another's business, for better and for worse.

Heartbreak in the Valleys begins in November 1915 with Anwen Rhys. She is young, hardworking, and carrying far too much responsibility at home, including caring for her sick mother and younger sister while living with an abusive, drink-fuelled father. Her childhood sweetheart, Idris Hughes, has gone to war, but his return does not bring the comfort she hoped for. When disaster hits the pit, Anwen and Idris must face both their own hurt and the needs of a grieving village.

The later books widen the view while keeping familiar faces close. In War in the Valleys, Violet Jones struggles to care for her children as the war puts growing pressure on home life. Hope in the Valleys moves into 1917 and follows Elizabeth Meredith, the mine manager's daughter, whose love for miner Gwilym Owen places her between class expectations and her own wishes. The series then reaches the unsettled aftermath of war in Trouble in the Valleys, when Polly Smith tries to build a decent future for herself and her young son despite gossip and the damage left by her husband's actions.

These are connected stories, not four copies of the same plot. Each book brings another woman and another corner of Dorcalon into focus, while Anwen, Idris, Violet, Elizabeth, Gwen, and others continue to shape the village around them. That ongoing cast gives the series the feeling of returning to neighbours whose lives have kept moving between visits.

The tone is emotional and rooted in daily life. Romance matters, but so do work, family duty, friendships, prejudice, class divisions, and the practical business of getting through a hard week. The mining setting matters too, because the pit supports the village while also bringing danger, hierarchy, and shared loss.

Start with Heartbreak in the Valleys. It introduces Dorcalon, Anwen, and the relationships that carry through the rest of the sequence. Reading in order lets the war years unfold naturally, from 1915 through the uneasy peace that follows.