Rumours of Fulfilment is a novel of the passing through to womanhood of two sisters, Rhiannon and Ruth McLellan. Living in a sleepy Welsh village, 18-year-old Rhiannon is determined to break out into a wider world by going to university in England. This and her young English art teacher seem to be an escape from confusion and repression.

Younger sister Ruth accepts home life and her Welshness with a contentment which eludes Rhiannon. She marries a local boy and is soon a housewife and a nurse to her aging grandfather, leaving Rhiannon alone, the family split, and Wales facing a vote for devolution and the choice between past dependence and the promise of independence.

Why did the referendum go the way it did? Robert Watson offers some fascinating suggestions in this gripping story.