Customer Reviews

In the Land of Winter

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first read _Tex and Molly in the Afterlife_ (also by Grant). I really liked that book and decided to try another. _In the Land of Winter_ is a shorter, but more intimate book. (of note, Pippa is a character from _Tex and Molly_)

Grant does a fabulous job of making Pippa (the main character) a three-dimensional character. She is fleshed out emotionally and physically throughout the book, and reading it, one can become quite attached to her and her plight.

His writing is veritably magical. He illustrates beautiful scenery, horrific and endearing characters, and plotlines of great imagination.

He has truly become one of my favorite authors. I have and will continue to recommend this book to all my friends.

I found IN THE LAND OF WINTER by just browsing through a bookstore's shelves, but just had to buy it after reading the first few pages. Richard Grant is a wonderful discovery for me. Not only does he have the loveliest prose style--lyrical, then zany by turns--but he tells a powerful and entertaining story. His style may at first seem comical, but the story gathers great power along the way. Rather than stereotyping his characters, he gives humanity and depth to his people that many would consider on the fringe of society. Richard Grant also writes about the feelings of motherhood in a way I've never encountered before--deeply felt, but completely without saccharine--and he's a guy! How do you know so much about how motherhood feels, Mr. Grant? After reading this novel, I felt I looked at the world in a new and different way, and felt wiser for it. Thank you, Richard Grant.

I am sorry the Kirkus reviewer is so damn jaded. It may not be Dostoyevsky, but it's a fine book with characters you care about. I am particularly happy to see someone write such a good, Regular Guy type of witch. The religion and magic are not incidental, but they don't mean only pagans or outre religious feminists will be comfortable here. Anyone who likes a good read, clean deep affection, and a taste of individual liberties will find a couple of hours' joy in this book.

Pippa Rede may be a lousy breadwinner and an indifferent witch, but she is a *very* good mother. In a right-thinking world, that should make up for a lot. But Pippa's world, like ours, is not always a right-thinking world.

Through a cascade of coincidence, misunderstandings, and malice, inoffensive Pippa, whose magic consists largely of trying *not* to wish other people ill, becomes the focus of (literally) a modern-day witch-hunt. Self-styled cult experts and Child Protective Services descend on the home Pippa's aunt reluctantly shares with her and her daughter, Winterbelle, and, without so much as a hearing, snatch Winterbelle away. Grant is at his best portraying Pippa's misery, misery so deep that the subsequent loss of her job and eviction by her aunt barely register.

In the days that follow, Pippa attracts an oddly-assorted and badly-organized collection of allies -- some, quite humanly, with agendas of their own that do not always keep Pippa's only priority (the safe return of Winterbelle) first. Things go from worse to worst, and Pippa becomes a fugitive from the law.

A more heartfelt and less cerebral work than Grant's _Tex and Molly in the Afterlife_, _In the Land of Winter_ is imbued with the same wry humor (and a few moments of over-the-top humor). At the same time, Grant displays a poetic sensibility concerning the novel's organization, as well as the choice and placement of words. Grant places words on the page with the same care that Pippa brings to organizing a ceremonial space.

Ultimately, Pippa becomes the hero of her own story. Candid and clear-eyed as a child herself, Pippa has always accepted whatever has come her way. Faced at last with something she cannot accept, she discovers the strength of her own magic -- an innocent and childlike kind of magic, though not without danger. The story's end is a fairy-tale festival of righted wrongs and punishments that fit the crimes.

Unfortunately, the people who most need to read this playing-out of popular delusion and the madness of crowds aren't likely to do so. I live in a rather conservative community, and my dominant thought throughout reading the book ran along the lines of, "Without eternal vigilance, it could happen here." Grant is a wonderfully vivid writer, almost snapping his fingers and putting you into a setting. Logic and happenstance mingle believably in this book. I did not find the characters stereotypical. I feel that I have met nearly all of them (and even been several myself). Strongly recommend this novel.

Beautifully written, deeply felt, and dealing with some of the most prevalent issues of humankind, In the Land of Winter should be considered a classic American novel.

Grant bravely explores the politics of religion in America, coupled with the part of the human psyche which allows otherwise normal people to join in ravening, thoughtless mobs. Why are scapegoats chosen? Why do people in the mob so easily lose their humanity? The way Grant goes about exposing this human darkness, and his way of dramatizing it, is sheer genius.

Besides beautiful language, there's sharp characterization, great dialogue, and incredible description. And even flashes of masterful wit and humor.

The hysteria over Satanic ritual abuse may be passe, but the human inclination to see "witches" around every corner, and blame them for everything from crop failure to ADD, is still very much with us. For that reason, unfortunately In the Land of Winter will never be dated.

A number of people might object to seeing their Christian religion portrayed as less than attractive. The chief villain in Land of Winter is a Christian. I doubt she is meant to represent the best Christianity has to offer. Grant makes sure that the protagonist understands this. So, before flying into moral outrage, try to remember a few things. One, turnabout is fair play--Christians have portrayed non-Christian religions for centuries as the evil villains. And two, pray for some humility and open mindedness. Try to learn something from the perspective of those who live outside your paradigm. It could be a valuable learning experience.

John Crowley or Charles deLint, two writers I find most similar to Grant in quality and themes. All three are engaged in making interesting stories out of Comparative Religion, out of what Alan Watts used to call "these things". Some writers get into your Dasein and make you do things. Because of Grant's Rumors of Spring, I have been growing Dictamnus alba for quite a few years. Having had time to consider I believe I made a mistake and the plant Grant had in mind was in fact Origanum dictamnus, prominent in several wiccan workings. This is not a bad thing; such misreadings are-- according to Harold Bloom (the clinamen) - the very origin of creativity. It is another kind of error, of a lamentable kind, that the anonymous Kirkus reviewer makes when he confuses Carol Deacon Aaby, the pitiable, negative fulcrum of the story with Dr. Allison Rhinum, the child psychologist who is the true author of evil. One of the pleasures in reading Grant is that he gets so many things right. Harvey Goldaster from Views from the Oldest House is Cernunnos both as Lord of the Hunt and as Provider of Wealth. In the Land of Winter is the tale of Pippa Wrede and her daughter Winterbelle, two minor players in the antecedent Tex and Molly in the Afterlife. ILW reminds me of C. S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength. Both are bildungsroman-comings to self-involving a confrontation between an Immoral Society and a Moral [Wo]man. Jane Studdock (from Lewis) struggles against a pagan/secular culture that would eliminate Christianity and abolish Man. Old Nobodaddie would rule both in the sub-lunar and celestial spheres. Pippa has Winterbelle snatched by a bureaucracy informed by an evangelical Christianity rooting out Satanism. No matter... Prior to ILW, Grant's works have all been mythologies-large, complex, meta-stories with much context/intertext. ILW is simpler, a fairy tale. Its pleasures are of a different kind but no less real and satisfying.

Beautifully written, deeply felt, and dealing with some of the most prevalent issues of humankind, In the Land of Winter should be considered a classic American novel.

Grant bravely explores the politics of religion in America, coupled with the part of the human psyche which allows otherwise normal people to join in ravening, thoughtless mobs. Why are scapegoats chosen? Why do people in the mob so easily lose their humanity? The way Grant goes about exposing this human darkness, and his way of dramatizing it, is sheer genius.

Besides beautiful language, there's sharp characterization, great dialogue, and incredible description. And even flashes of masterful wit and humor.

The hysteria over Satanic ritual abuse may be passe, but the human inclination to see "witches" around every corner, and blame them for everything from crop failure to ADD, is still very much with us. For that reason, unfortunately In the Land of Winter will never be dated.

A number of people might object to seeing their Christian religion portrayed as less than attractive. The chief villain in Land of Winter is a Christian. I doubt she is meant to represent the best Christianity has to offer. Grant makes sure that the protagonist understands this. So, before flying into moral outrage, try to remember a few things. One, turnabout is fair play--Christians have portrayed non-Christian religions for centuries as the evil villains. And two, pray for some humility and open mindedness. Try to learn something from the perspective of those who live outside your paradigm. It could be a valuable learning experience.

I don't usually keep books. But this is part of my cherished collection that I bring out when I need my mood lifted.

Further, this book always puts me in a Christmas spirit. It has an original sense of Xmas magic. The theme, the poems, the prose, the dreams, the depth of emotion, the story, it all builds into layered, rich, satisfying Xmas experience. Much more so than so many sentimental, or kind of boring Xmas novels.

Yes, it has poems. But, it's not typical literary fiction, which usually bores me. The story grabs me, and is 100% believable. I go through the tunnel of darkness with the character. Somehow, its light of day moments moments are true magic.

It avoids predictability. I love the non-mainstream characters, which could appeal to other fantasy fans.

To me, this is Richard Grant's best book. Nothing else comes close. But, it is a little dated (Nineties).

This book touched me deeply. It's an intensely personal story about a young, Wiccan single-mother, who isn't suave or charming or powerful. She's nobody's hero. But she's a fun, quirky, compassionate mom.

A religious group suddenly decides that anything that even whiffs of magic is bad. The minister's wife, enlisting the school, social services, and even the woman's aunt, swoops in and takes the young woman's daughter away, placing her in foster care with a good Christian family. Visits are restricted and her daughter is told that her mother is evil.

This is presented in a chillingly-normal way that left me believing that this must be exactly what it's like, and that it could easily happen to people I know.

The story is about intolerance; surviving and growing to be stronger and more compassionate under the weight of oppression and hatred; and how an average woman can find her strength and power within, and grow to be a guiding light rather than a storybook hero.