The Fox-Red Hills

Set in rural Wales on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, this lengthy novel by the author of The Storms of Fate chronicles the relationship between two very different brothers as they face adversity and grow to adulthood. When their wealthy, landowning father dies, Carne and Mostyn Havard are left penniless, dependent on their cruel and conniving cousin Penry Vaughan. Gentle Carne escapes his cousin's wrath through study and friendship, while his charming and selfish younger brother Mostyn learns how to manipulate people to gain status and money. Carne falls in love with a farmer's sweet daughter; Mostyn charms his way into matrimony with a wealthy young woman. As their farming community is transformed into a town and both brothers become successful in the mining industry, their rivalry continues, until finally Mostyn's past misdeeds catch up with him. Though detailed and full of action, the narrative is often unfocused and overwrought. Roberts too often loses sight of the central conflict between the brothers amidst an overabundance of other characters, whose stories fail to engage the reader because they are so superfically delineated. (Feb.)