Customer Reviews

Spell of Winter

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Siblings Rob and Catherine live in the big old house with their cold grandfather after their mother abandoned them and their father left to live in a mental institution. Left alone to wonder about the family secrets that seem to be hiding everywhere, they turn to each other for the love and affection they can't find elsewhere.

This is an absolutely haunting book. The writing was just about as beautiful and powerful as any I've encountered. Dunmore created such a strong sense of place that was so enveloping that I had to take breaks from reading just to warm up and bring myself back to my life, because I felt like if I spent too much time there in the world of the book, I'd be trapped and never make it out. I'm excited to read more by this author.

Rarely, does one come across a gothic novel written by a modern novelist that is not totally insipid. Helen Dunmore's "A Spell of Winter" is literature and it is beautiful. The writing strikes a fine poetic balance - profoundly evocative without being overly dense or distracting from the story she unwinds. You are, quite simply, there. You smell, taste and feel everything. And, the scenery...ah, the scenes, the odd, strange and staggeringly beautiful scenes you find yourself experiencing (Dunmore is a master of place) - ones you won't forget after you close the book. It is all very confusing and exciting and exquistedly sad. The characters, particularly the female ones, are well-realized and deeply complex (just as people truly are in a life fully-lived). Dunmore has obviously, like many of us, been long haunted by Cathy and Heathcliff. Admittedly, I had a few problems with the novel's conclusion. Toward the end, I found many of the actions of the characters became totally, well, uncharacteristic and seemed manipulated to satisfy to the novel's plot, or lack thereof, toward the ending. I found this highly disappointing since I was so involved with the characters by that point. Much of the novel's trembling intensity seems to just peter out. Still, there did exist that "trembling intensity" and finding that anywhere in a novel is a gift not lightly dismissed.

The blurb at the back of Helen Dunmore's Orange Prize winning novel, "A Spell of Winter" suggested a haunting gothic-styled thriller built around forbidden passions and family secrets. For a good two-thirds of the novel, Dunmore kept up the suspense with a litter of teases and dark hints which unfortunately remained unresolved and a mystery even at the end. You could have forgiven her deliberate sense of obscurity and vagueness had she gone for a less open ended denouement, but the last third of the novel was a major let down for me. I felt almost cheated after a such a promising start. Sure, Dunmore writes exquisitely. Her prose is smooth and fluent and a joy to read. Pity she let the suspense and momentum peter out midway. In my humble opinion, not up to the standards I was expecting from a prize winner. But Dunmore is an excellent writer. Perhaps the next book I read of hers will be more fulfulling.

"I saw an arm fall off a man once." So begins Helen Dunmore's beautiful novel, "A Spell of Winter." The words above are spoken by Kate, an Irish maid in a pre-World War I English household that consists of eight year old Catherine, her ten year old brother, Rob, their tutor and grandfather. After making her startling announcement, Kate then relates a rather gruesome story that happened in the Dublin house of her grandmother many years ago, when Kate, herself, was a child.

Although the above is certainly an engrossing way to open a novel, it really doen't have anything to do with the story that follows, except for introducing Catherine Allen, who, as a grown woman, will be our narrator through his dark and Gothic tale.

As a passionate, independent woman who harbors far more than her share of both secrets and pain, Catherine Allen looks much as we would expect her to look, possessing dark, unruly hair and dark eyes that unnerve even the most strong-willed.

Catherine's sharer-of-secrets and co-conspirtor is her brother, Rob, who seems, even at his young age, to be something of a dandy and, perhaps, more affected by the strange goings-on at the decaying estate the two call home than is Catherine.

If Rob and Cathy aren't your typical children, even in a drafy English country manor house, it might have something to do with the fact that their parents are not your typical parents. Their mother (who was perhaps the wisest of them all, though definitely not the most kind-hearted), bolted from the strangeness of it all to live a bohemian life in the south of France. Their father made his escape through insanity and died (under suspicious circumstances) in an asylum ironicaly called, the Sancturary.

If Rob and Cathy have apparently learned much from their parents, though and they harbor many dark secrets of their own. For most of us, these secrets heat up the storyline while giving us the shivers. Although I found this book both haunting and eerie, I think some readers might find the storyline a bit too melodramatic and over-the-top.

While I thought Catherine was a good narrator, her often heartless approach to things that would have broken my heart made me dislike her and, as a consequence, I lost quite a bit of sympathy for her. Dunmore's writing is so life-like and so riveting, that we can't help but be pulled in when Catherine describes scenes that, at their mildest, could only be described as "harrowing."

The very best thing about this novel though, is not the characters or the plot, it is Dunmore's beautiful prose and her wonderful sense of place. She certainly has a way with description; I could have enjoyed this book for the gorgeous prose alone, though I doubt that that would be enough to please most readers.

While the book does have a tendency to slip into melodrama at times, as far as the plot is concerned, it is really still believable. By the time we reach the last third of the novel, most of the characters are "gone," and only Catherine remains. I didn't care for this part of the novel quite as much as the preceding pages. While the first two-thirds of the book had a dusty, claustrophobic feel, just perfect for the subject matter, the last third seemed more open, more expansive...and far less moody.

The close of the novel is something of a twist, and a modern one at that. Personally, I didn't care for it but I know other readers may feel differently. It wasn't bad, I simply didn't find it at all believable.

If you liked "Wuthering Heights" and the characters of Catherine and Heathcliff, you will probably enjoy "A Spell of Winter." It has the same moody, claustrophobic feel (at least through most of the story) and the same unrelenting darkness. If you simply enjoy a good, old-fashioned tale, complete with lush settings written in beautiful and lyrical prose, you would also probably enjoy this book. If, however, you require stark realism and total believability, better skip this one.

If one of the Brontes had written a novel set a century later, would it have turned out like this? There is the same harsh northern landscape, the same tug of forbidden passions, family secrets similarly buried, and the familiar situation of the rich bachelor a distant figure on the neighboring estate. But the sexual frankness belongs to a much later period still, and there is also a modern sensibility in the heroine's path to self-realization, not through others but on her own terms. This is a most enjoyable book, if not an especially deep one, a sort of Bronte meets Lawrence meets McEwan. It might have been stronger had the approach of WW1 been heralded earlier, and had the impact of that conflict not so radically separated the ending pages from the rest, but this is a relatively small flaw.

A Gothic novel that is as dark and atmospheric to the classics it has been compared to. Dunmore's writing it lush and captivating, and this is a total page-turner. Yet, being a devoted fan, I know that she has been better in other works....

Reviews of this book singled out Dunmore's prose as being strikingly beautiful, so as to make the reader pause over her passages, and I definitely found this to be true. Her descriptions of the book's physical world are wondrous, usually connecting to the emotional atmosphere being created, and I did find myself slowing down to savor such tactile beauty of nature. Although some episodes threatened to be inscrutable without attentive re-reading (not a task I enjoy), for the most part the plotting of the novel was fascinating and I was definitely caught up in the gathering inevitability of Dunmore's story, a gathering storm of tragic consequences that put me in mind of McEwan's "Atonement", which is highest praise from me. The relationship between Catherine and Rob was truly creepy but I couldn't look away. The servant Kate is the most satisfying character in the book and her episodes the most potent. Although it's not long in # of pages, this novel required time to appreciate and I felt amply rewarded for that time. This is Dunmore's first novel and that is hard to believe. Her work surely bears seeking out.

Got it in the "bargain" section, although it looked like a great read.
It is, in fact, a great read. The author is quite talented & writes as if from another era. The prose is beautiful & eloquent.
I loved the setting & enjoyed its Gothic content as well.
I feel bad for giving it only three stars, but I must. I never felt settled after finishing it. It teases you thinking they'll find their happiness & escape the bleakness, but no.
It just depressed me, plain & simple. I so wanted to find a deep satisfaction with this.
It deserves my three because of such superb writing talent, not story/plot-wise.
I am eager to read more of this author as her style & talent is most captivating.

"A Spell of Winter" is an old-fashioned novel, where once again the flow of narration charms us in an instant, and we are carried off into the nineteenth century English countryside, and enter the small world where Catherine's life undergoes a transformation. It's a small world, for the story evolves around the house, a family mansion of the Allens, a dysfunctional family we grow to love as pages turn around and about. The novel is a pleasure to read, bu all accounts. beginning with an old-style clear typeface, beautiful dust jacket, well-bound hardcover, and ending with the characters, the frozen setting and dusty mysterious atmosphere of the storyline. Helen Dunmore is virtually unknown in America, perhaps because only recently the audience had the chance to discover her works. I am happy that I found A Spell of Winter sue to seemingly random book search patterns I have. Having read thousands of books, I have developed a sort of intuition which whispers in my ear: that's the one! I have bought Helen Dunmore's novel trusting my intuition, and having just finished it, I would like to make a heartfelt recommendation for fellow old-fashioned bookworms like yours truly. The novel is engaging, never dull, the writing style is unique, impossiblt to compare with anyone else's, the narration is soft, dreamilke, and even very topics which others would have found difficult, if not impossible to write about, were touched here with infinite gentleness, like a womanly barely audible whisper, a story told intimately, reserved for your ears only, in confidence of an embrace, in a small room of an old house lit only by a weak yet cheerful candle. I am sure some of you have lived through this; listened attentively with love when the dearest significant other opens her heart; slowly and gradually unfolding the most important tale of personal life. Have you? "A Spell of Winter" is the confession, such confession, this particular confession that makes you slightly tremble all along, while you are aware of both the intimacy and the importance of the moment. It might have been a diary. Yes, it might have been, but then it wouldn't have been as good as it is. Brilliant dialogues, where there is no word lost, or added beyond what is needed, devoid of ornaments, and yet beautiful in its simplicity. I have fallen in love with the voice of Catherine, the charming protagonist of the novel. Eccentric and feminine, Catherine unveils the mystery of her spectacular girlhood in the family mansion. One might say that whoever else tried to touch that subject, would definitely fail, having trivialized it, trampled over with some superimposed vision, where we would have no choice but to follow the interpretation served us by the author. Dunmore allowed us to follow the events, as they came, with her exquisite prose carrying us like the dolphin over waves, in a twirl, leaving it for us to ponder about. There is not a single artificial moment in the book, and boy, wasn't that easy to commit! Dunmore has class and grace, and I am sure that whatever she chose to write about, she would do that with her unique, delicate strokes of feather, leaving you amused, sighing, longing to enter her fictional world without a second look back. I didn't want the novel to end, nor did I want any of the chapters to end. Each page is like a lyrical poem; a poem written for you and you only. It's a rare feeling, you know?

"A Spell of Winter" is the most beautiful novel I read in many years, and I will not exaggerate if I claim that it's place is among the notable books of the XX century. I will come back to this book many times in future. Rarely indeed I feel like starting to read all over again when I have just only finished. When a novel ends like this one, you just can't help but sigh and take a long walk. Reality is too much to bear. A tale of passion, tradition, youth, wasted lives, redemption, forgiveness, family ties, abandonment, eternal love, and the unbreakable spirit. I discovered Helen Dunmore and I couldn't have been more happy. I have written this review to share my impressions with you, dear reader. "A Spell of Winter" - a small diamond you will want to keep close to your heart, and take with you everywhere, with that 'specific gravity of smile' on your face...

Just like the reviews written here, this book started out very good. Midway, again going strong, then .....then.....then.....are you kidding me....did the same person that wrote the first 1/2 of the book write the second 1/2. It just did not do it for me. The comparisons to Cathy and Heathcliff are like comparing a rain drop to Niagara Falls. This book can't even compare to Wuthering Heights on any level.