Customer Reviews

Blackthorn Winter

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BLACKTHORN WINTER by Sarah Challis
January 19, 2005

One of my favorite books read in 2004 was BLACKTHORN WINTER by Sarah Challis. I can't say enough about this novel. The characters, however, was the driving force behind this book, although the center of the story was Claudia Knight's life as she tried desperately to begin a new one in a village called Court Barron. She does everything including change her last name, in the hopes that her neighbors will not know who she is, or discover that her husband is Roger Baron, the man who was recently sent to jail for a financially related crime.

While Claudia does her best to start a new life as a single woman, she also has to deal with her two adult children. Her daughter continues to defend Roger, even though he's in jail and has also had an affair with a woman he would rather be with than his own wife. Her son is in India and emotionally and physically is as far from Claudia as he will ever get. She does have a true friend in her sister-in-law Minna, who supports Claudia through phone conversations and communications through the lawyer, David.

Hiding her true story from the neighbors is a 24-hour job. She doesn't know how long she can keep up this charade, especially with the newspapers that often cover Roger's story on the front page. As she builds a new life for herself, she slowly gets to know the neighbors, and the story unfolds. Challis does a great job developing the characters and their various relationships, and it is the relationships and the personalities that make BLACKTHORN WINTER a delight to read.

This book is highly recommended by the Ratmammy.

Claudia Barron was living the high life in London with good clothes, a nice home, and social friends but it all came to an end when her husband was arrested and sent to jail for fraud. Claudia was being hounded by the newspapers and photographers so she decided to leave London and head off to the small Dorset village of Court Barton to start a new life. She changed her name to Claudia Knight, rented a small cottage, and got a job at a local school as a cook. She is trying hard to keep her past life a secret but circumstances beyond her control are forcing the truth out.

Blackthorn Winter is a special treat to read if you are a fan of Maeve Binchy or Rosamunde Pilcher. The first chapter is a little bit confusing because of how it opens but stick to it, you will not be sorry.

This was my first Sarah Challis novel and I found her delightful characters living in a charming English village completely captivating. Readers who are enchanted by Rosamunde Pilcher and Marcia Willett will find Challis to be an equally enjoyable writer to spend time with.

Claudia Barron has led a glitzy and glamorous life in London. Alas, her well-known husband has recently been splattered across the tabloids, convicted of fraud, and exposed as an adulterer. Humiliated, Claudia flees to an inconspicuous village and hopes to live anonymously and detached from fair-weather friends. Even though she changes her name, her reclusive behavior causes mumblings in the village and before she can say "no comment" she has been thrust into a cast of characters as endearing as any you would want to meet: Julia Durnford, her nosey parker neighbor who manages every detail of the village; Peter, Julia's milquetoast husband; their daughter Victoria who is feeling the pangs of being the left-out and lonely teenager at boarding school; Jena, the ten-year old gypsy who runs free; and Valerie, the semi-alcoholic neighbor to whom Claudia can reveal her secrets. Add to this mix, Claudia's visiting adult children: the lively Lila who flies in from New York and Jerome, the brooding son who returns from India with a secret too devastating to share. And finally, there are the two available men who catch Claudia's eye---will she succumb to the sexy and suave Anthony Brewer or be stabilized by Chris, the straightforward widower with four daughters?

Cozy and comforting, this is a most appealing novel I was sad to see end.

Londoner Claudia Barron feels that this winter will never end as her life is gloom and doom caused by her husband, who is spending time in prison. From great wealth and position, Claudia is broke and looked at with ridicule from her former friends, the rich and famous. Needing to regain control of her shattered life following the betrayal, Claudia knows she must leave London to start fresh where no one knows her or her infamous spouse.

Claudia changes her name and relocates to Court Barton, a remote village in Dorset, where she buys an ugly bungalow because that is all she can afford. She obtains a job at the local school, but tries to stay low keyed and by herself. The glitter and glamour is buried in London. However, as the BLACKTHORN WINTER provides a final seemingly endless April frost, the villagers wonder who the outsider really is and why she rusticating here when she is obviously big city glitz even as they draw her into the local grumbling society.

This entertaining contemporary tale stars a wounded protagonist fleeing from her "complex" failed urban life of the simpler existence of a small village. The story line focuses on Claudia's attempts to stay aloof more because she still hurts from the duplicity of her spouse and her subsequent fear of becoming involved. The locals are an eccentric crowd who readers see mostly through the "bias" of Claudia. Though the action is limited, fans of English village tales will enjoy the warmth that follows the BLACKTHORN WINTER.

Harriet Klausner

Enjoyed very much. Readers who are Rosemund Pilcher amd Marsha Willet fans will also like Sarah Challis'works.

Very hard to get into.... I'm almost 1/2 way and can still put it down easily.............

Great human elements. Wish my small town could adapt some of Ms. Challis' well-developed empathy. Vivid, multigenerational characters are portrayed realistically. Her descriptions of local flora and fauna provide visions of thick hedges, stone walls, thickly-wooled sheep. Finished with a big smile and a cup of hot tea with milk - not a bad commendation for a summer-read in Georgia!

I've run out of Maeve Binchy books and this was a great substitute! I love getting to know the characters in the little towns and this book entertains with just that. I am going to be buying more of Sarah Challis's books.

When my 21st century American life stresses me out, I turn to stories that take place in rural France, England or Ireland: Joanna Trollope, Rosamunde Pilcher, Jean Stubbs, Maeve Binchy - you get the idea. "Blackthorn Winter" sounded like just the ticket, and I was not disappointed. The background was a contemporary English village - something like the local in Trollope's "A Village Affair." Or, perhaps more accurately, it was an English village adjusting to change, mostly social. That always makes for some interesting dynamics. I liked the characters, and they were multi-dimensional. That matters to me. The plot was believable, and the writing was good. I couldn't wait to come home after work and delve back into it. That's the mark of a good book to me.