Song of the Earth

[1] The novel is Cordell's third book in the lives of the Mortymer family, after Rape of the Fair Country and Hosts of Rebecca.

It describes the landscape of the area (still viewable today over 150 years later) as well as the hardship suffered by the family, and growth of disease and population topography in the industrial revolution.

Cordell's third book in the lives of Mortymer family switches its focus to the canals and waterways of South Wales, especially the Neath Valley.

They struggle to maintain a working existence against the onslaught of the new railways then under construction and being forged by the inspired engineering skills of Isambard Kingdom Brunel which are penetrating the valleys of South Wales.

Against this backdrop, Mostyn marries Marie Mortymer who also appears in 'Rape of the Fair Country' and 'The Hosts of Rebecca'.