The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price Purveyor of Superior Funerals, by Wendy Jones, is a novel set in a small Welsh town in1924. It tells of Wilfred Price, a funeral director coming of age in this very small town, who impulsively asks a girl to marry him, then quickly realizes he has made a mistake.

The book starts as a comedy of manners, and indeed would make a good movie, but then tackles more serious subjects as the novel progresses. What could have been just another quaint small town novel becomes a deeper portrait of human emotions and frailty, courage and tenderness all struggling to fit in with the social conventions of the time.

Wonderful characters, great writing, a good read.