A Spell of Winter: WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

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If a child was born from those two people, I wonder if it would be born knowing all their secrets, somewhere within it. The exception being her reaction to birthing and losing a baby, which is buried in some unknown plot of land on the family property.

I'm predisposed to love half a dozen tropes in A Spell of Winter, but to my surprise the book did nothing for me. Everyone is right to fear for Cathy, as it turn out, and events reach a shocking climax, but with the First World War not far away, it seems everything’s is in a state of flux. The children cling to each other because they have no-one else, but when they grow up their sibling love becomes incestuous. At the beginning I did find it a bit confusing as there were some sudden time jumps but later the story settled down and there was no more confusion. This haunting and evocative novel was the first Orange Prize Winner and set a high standard for future hopefuls.

I found it dreary and the characters worthy of a good slap and a "What the heck are you thinking/doing!

I’ve found the book lingering in my thoughts ever since I finished it, but I still wish she’d stick with the gothic vibes. Immensely sad, quite beautiful , and deserves to be read by all lovers of good novel ― The Bookseller --This text refers to the paperback edition. Dunmore's prose is incredibly rich and detailed which can be beautiful to read but also quite tedious at times when you just want to know what is happening in the plot. Catherine and her brother Rob do not understand why they have been abandoned by both their parents, or know where their mother has gone.

It certainly adds more tragedy to Cathy’s life, and the time period explains certain habits / ways of life at the manor, but I would argue that it doesn’t change Cathy’s relationships with any of the main characters, which in my opinion is the central focus of this story.