This is a story set in a south Wales coal mining valley and tells of a family striving to improve their lives through hard work, education and their non-conformist faith. The main character is the youngest son, Huw Morgan and his life's journey through the difficulties associated with the mining industry and the awful risks involved in deep coal mining in the mid nineteenth century.

The narrative traces the dignity and fortitude of hard working Welsh miners and their ambitions and hopes for their futures. The location of the story is usually considered to be in a village called Gilfach Goch in the Rhondda Valley. The collieries are long gone but their scars are still evident, returning to the green of the book's title.