Welsh Modern Classics
"Reflective, descriptive and quirky, this is a riveting read." – Christoph Fischer
"Imogen Herrad writes well and there is no hint of this being written in an acquired language. She is curious and clear-sighted. Her strong nous impels her to look beyond the surface and the kitsch... She manages to acquire a broader and critical perspective on the Welsh Patagonia experience without becoming alienated from what drew her interest in the first place." – Desmond Clifford, Nation. Cymru
Beyond the Pampas is an emotional, compelling, at times funny, at times painful, but always beautifully told story of a still untamed land and its people.
An entrancing and highly unusual account of a journey to the ends of the earth in search of a dream.
Imogen Herrad sets off in search of the descendants of the nineteenth-century colony of Welsh settlers in Patagonia, in the deep south of Argentina, and discovers that Welsh-speaking communities, proud of their heritage, still exist there today. She also discovers a country and a way of life hugely different from her European experience.
Her explorations lead Herrad beyond the Welsh to discover the even more remarkable story of the Mapuche, Tehuelche and other indigenous tribes, who have suffered the all too familiar fate of colonised peoples. This unexpected direction gives Herrad a new perspective on her own life and those of others, as she ends her travels standing on a Patagonian hillside, part of an ancient Mapuche ceremony of the land.
