Customer Reviews

Snowed In: A Novel

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SNOWED IN by Christina Bartolomeo
November 25, 2004

Here is a book that will be on my top 20 list for 2004. SNOWED IN by Christina Bartolomeo is one of those novels that will sneak up on you. You will fall in love with the main character, Sophie Quinn, while the book itself (at least for me) will be hard to forget. There aren't too many books that come around that I feel "special" about, and SNOWED IN is one of those few.

Sophie Quinn has been married to Paul Stoddard for a number of years, and now she finds herself living in the cold world of Portland, Maine, because of Paul's job relocation. He's very busy with work and she rarely sees him, and when he's home, he's not the same. She's noticed that the man she fell in love with does not exist anymore. She's lonely and feels trapped.

Sophie's days consist of dealing with the landlord, Donald, who she has a hard time confronting. Paul asks her to talk to Donald about their heater, and other things that are not working in their apartment, but she is not the confrontational type. But, October in Maine dictates the use of a heater, and with theirs not working at all and Sophie being homebound most of the day, she has to do something or she'll freeze to death.

One day Sophie meets Stephen, a gay man who happened to bang his leg (which was in a cast) against her stool at her favorite coffee house, Java Net. They strike up a conversation, something that Sophie does not do with strangers, and soon she has made a new friend. He invites her to join a walking group he belongs to, and so she courageously joins. Paul is ecstatic that she's found an interest outside her own work, which is doing pamphlets for various non-profit groups and helping a college friend create artwork for greeting cards.

Soon, Sophie is making new friends, and finds herself attracted in a platonic way to Ned, Stephen's brother. She's married and does not feel a need for a romantic interest outside the marriage, but as I continued reading, I felt that underneath everything, Sophie does not feel married at all. And therefore, because she did not feel married, she also felt subconsciously that she was not doing anything wrong by feeling somewhat attracted to Ned, confiding with him about almost everything, and becoming as close to him as she wished she were with her own husband.

Along with Ned, there is also an ex-boyfriend who was the love of her life, Rory. He also becomes a distraction, as she becomes further confused about her marriage and what she really wants out of a relationship.

Despite the heavy themes, the tone of the book is light. I found myself chuckling quite often while reading about Sophie's exploits. The book is witty and funny and I was quite amazed that I discovered such a gem of a book. The characters are all rather quirky, which adds to the charm of this book, and the author has a definite gift of story telling.

I am definitely recommending SNOWED IN, and am going to be hunting down her previous novels, CUPID AND DIANA and THE SIDE OF THE ANGELS.

OK. I'll admit it. I like chick lit. Some of it anyway. And this is one of them. I know chick lit gets a bad name, but read this book and you'll also see how it can be funny, intelligent and compelling. While I was reading the book, I couldn't put it down and now that I've finished it, I actually find myself missing the characters. All of the characters are written with such details that they seem real to me. I'm betting they will to you too. Check this chick out; I'm betting you won't be disappointed.

I must admit -- being from the South, I don't know much about the Northeast, let alone Maine. I've always just pictured beautiful fishing villages and/or really cold, depressing winters. So what I really loved about this book was the vivid and complex portrait that the author paints of Maine, particularly Portland, the state's largest city. It's easy to discern that Bartolomeo knows the city intimately, and that helps ground the story in reality. In Bartolomeo's novel, Maine is not reduced to simply being a beautiful vacation destination or the home of freakish Stephen King-style murder mysteries, but it is portrayed as a real place, with real people facing real-life struggles (job, marriage, family, in-laws, etc.). Hats off to the author on this. In addition, "Snowed In" is simply a riveting page-turner. Driving the action is Sophie, the novel's eminently likeable and engaging lead character. She carries the book through her deep humanity, witty (often hilarious) observations, and unrelenting desire to change her ho-hum life against difficult odds. This is an inspiring, poignant, and heartfelt book -- and one that will also make you laugh uproariously. I highly, highly recommend it.

Three months ago freelance artist Sophie accompanied her husband Paul when his job caused him to relocate from Washington DC to Portland, Maine. After the hustle and bustle of the big city with the Metro to get around, the unlicensed Sophie finds the solitude disturbing. With so much time on her hands to brood and no place to go, Sophie worries that her spouse's new assistant bubbly yet effective Natalie seems to get more of Paul's attention and admiration than his wife receives from him.

Depressed, Sophie several times calls her sister and her best friend, but neither lifts her from her doldrums while her mother-in-law Pepper adds spice to Sophie's already churning stomach. Desperate to get her mind off of her concerns Sophie joins a local walking club where she meets Ned who struggles with his own going nowhere relationship with a geographically distant girlfriend.

This engaging character study looks at how a geographical change can impact relationships. Sophie goes from having no time to complete anything to having too much time causing her to brood and fret. The story line fully focuses on Sophie who holds the tale together while the rest of the cast predominantly relate to her. Her relationship with Pepper is a classic; while that with her spouse has deteriorated rather quickly as she feels he has moved on to being a rugged New Englander with a captivating snowbird assistant while she is turning into a boring SNOWED IN transplant failure. Fans of deep family dramas will appreciate the wry humorous asides inside the serious subject of the impact of relocating on marriage.

Harriet Klausner

Snowed In tells the story of Sophia and Paul, a newly married couple who left the big bustling city of Washington D.C. and moved to the quiet and very cold Portland, Maine for Pauls new job. Sophie was hoping that the change would be good for the marriage but the longer they were in Portland, the more it seemed that Paul was pulling away from her. Sophie believed that if she made herself more interesting to Paul, the sparks would return in the marriage so she started making a list of how to improve herself. Her first task was to join a walking group, then she moved on to a new hair cut with color and then a car. With each day, she was becoming a more independent woman but Paul was even more distant with her. We finally find out that Paul was having an affair with an associate from work but by the time Sophie found out, she was well on her way to becoming a new woman who could stand on her own two feet.

Although I was not immediately blown away when I started Snowed In, little by little the story engaged my interest and I found myself routing for Sophie to rise above the life that she was living and find the strength within herself to want and do more with her future. If you have looking to read a story that has action and a moment that changes everything, you will not find it in Snowed In. This is more of a book that slowly unfolds before your eyes. It is a book for the simple pleasure of reading.

Christina Bartolomeo is a very talented author and is definitely one to watch in the coming years.

Christina Bartolomeo is really an underrated author; all Anne Tyler fans should be reading her work. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Sophie, a sweet, rather passive artist who feels "snowed in" in Portland, Maine. She's from DC and Maine is a little too cold and remote for her, but her husband, Paul, doesn't seem to care. Paul is spending a suspicious amount of time with Natalie, a perky brunette from the office, and Sophie is left with time on her hands. She joins a walking club and gradually makes new connections in the wintry city.

This is a story that's meant to be lingered over and savored. It is somewhat slow-paced, but not in a bad way. You really feel like you know the characters, and Bartolomeo's sly little nuggets of insight are priceless.

Highly recommended.

Sophie Quinn has never been an assertive person. Now that her husband Paul has a new job, she is living in a new environment. As the days move on in her run down apartment, Paul speaks excessively about the great homemaker Natalie, and Sophie realizes she needs to start doing something different. Sophie joins a walking club and begins feeling like her life is spinning out of control. She thinks that her husband might be having an affair with Natalie, meets some new friends in her walking group, and starts learning how to stand up for herself without all the fear she had before.

While Sophie is sorting through her life, she starts a friendship with a cute and enjoyable guy in her walking group, Ned. In addition, she is back in contact with her first love, Rory, who wants to see her again. Can Sophie ever get her life on track and be happy again? Will she ever find the true love she deserves?

Snowed In is a smart and funny story of Sophie's life and the choices she makes in an effort to have a happy life. I enjoyed the warmth of the story, the detailed characters and the seemingly natural flow of new opportunities presented to Sophie and her friends. Christina Bartolomeo has done a fantastic job of creating a world that pulls you in. She has you under Sophie's spell before you realize what has happened. I give Snowed In 4 Angels and would recommend it to anyone looking for a comical and heart-warming story.

By Tammy
Fallen Angel Reviews
[...]

I don't know if a snowy weekend to read this book heightened my love of it but it was a very good story.

Sophie and Paul leave the Washington, DC area for Maine because of Paul's job. Sophie does freelance artwork while Paul is the main breadwinner.

Nathalie, Paul's coworker, develops a crush (as Sophie sees it) on Paul and their relationship threatens the marriage. Sophie joins a walking group to mingle with Mainers. There she meets Stephen and Ned who become constant friends.

Just as snowflakes float slowly does this novel move through seasons of Sophie's year. She is faced with a horrible mother in law, Pepper, who comes for the holiday and treats Sophie in the ways only an insincere mother in law can behave.

The reader roots for Sophie and witnesses her strength toward the end of the novel, as she needs to stand up for herself and lead the life she is meant to have.

I purchased this book as my Christmas read for this year. The idea of lots of snow and possibly a story about being "snowed in" really heightend my interest. Long story short, there was lots of snow and cold weather, and that was fun as I am an East coast transplant now living in the west (and I for one miss the snow). Anyway, this story is rich with characters who come to life, particularly our main character Sophie Quinn, having moved from Washington DC to Portland, Maine, because her husband has a job transfer. She finds her life in a real time of transition as her husband begins to have an affair with one of the "Girls" at his office. As Sophie begins to realize this she tries to save her marriage but to no avail. Along comes Stephen, a gay guy who is in the construction business with his brother, Ned, and they become the first two friends that Sophie makes in Portland. In the end, these two guys have a very positive affect on Sophie's life. As I said this story is well written and has a wonderful true to life cast of characters. It is not the Christmas read that I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Sophie Quinn has been married to Paul for about a year. She has always lived in the D.C. area, but Paul's work transfers him to Portland, Maine, for a year. She can do her work anywhere. It is all via computer, so that is not a problem.

Sophie soon finds herself in a residence where the heat refuses to work, no vehicle to get around in, no friends close by, and Paul is seldom home. She joins a walking group just for a bit of exercise and some human company. This is where she meets Stephen and Ned.

Good thing Sophie now has some friends, because Paul's eyes are zooming in on a co-worker. Worse, Paul's holier-than-thou mother is coming to, once again, show Sophie how inferior she is.

*** I found this to be a good book, but nothing wonderful. It is realistic, but Sophie is just too shy and timid for me to believe. In the back of the book there is a page useful for Reading Groups.

The most impressive part, for me, is when the author mentions that the people who surf in the waters wear wetsuits for protection against the water's icy temperatures. Most people think that "beach" equals "warmth". Not in places such as Maine and Alaska. Very good addition. ***

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.