"The Land in Winter"| Reviewed by Chris Stuckenschneider

Mesmerizing and complex, “The Land in Winter,” by Andrew Miller, is an atmospheric British novel set in a village near Bristol in the 1960s. A record-breaking snowstorm mirrors the disquiet and turmoil its main characters face. The novel paints pictures with words, the English countryside, and the cities of Bristol and London coming to life on its pages, the sacrifices of World War II an undertone pervasive in the narrative.

Two young Brit couples from vastly different backgrounds live near one another in the country, relative newcomers set to launch their married lives and careers. The couples’ close proximity offers the chance for the wives to grow acquainted. Both are pregnant and they compare their symptoms and progress, drawing comfort from one another. With each meeting their bond deepens, neither suspecting that an indiscretion will set their private worlds spinning.

A dismal opening forecasts the overall mood of this introspective story. There’s been a suicide in a local insane asylum. The young man’s body is discovered by the father of Rita, one of the pregnant women. Rita has a questionable past and is haunted by voices as she struggles to leave behind the reputation she’s created for herself in Bristol. Rita’s father served in the war and his insanity seems rooted in the trauma he experienced.

Rita is married to Bill, whose father is a wealthy London businessman with vast rental properties. An alcoholic, his father cares more about money than for his three sons and wife. Bill knows little about Rita’s background, but does believe she qualifies more as “a mistress than a wife.” Regardless, the two disquieted souls marry. Bill is determined to chart a new course, to make a respectable income farming, though he has no background in agriculture and knows little about farm animals. Scenes depicting his struggles awaken empathy for this likeable man, an Oxford graduate bucking his father’s wishes for his son to stay in the city and get involved in his rental business.

Eric, a doctor, with a superior opinion of himself, lives in a tidy cottage with Irene. As one restless, winter day follows another, Rita, hungry for company, walks to their house to deliver eggs to Irene, a good faith measure that leads to their friendship. Irene is discontent because Eric is continually with his patients and comes homes hours after promised. Always close to her parents, Irene has disappointed them by moving away from London. Irene is alone now, having distanced herself from her family. Her support comes from calls to her sister in the States and in her growing friendship with Rita.

The brutal winter is isolating and cruel in “The Land in Winter,” each of the characters struggling with their own isolation, self-imposed or the result of a loved one’s distancing. The author patiently forecasts doom with subtle hints of disaster that never occur, then pulls the rug out from under with a shocking retribution. This addictive story takes its time, building with each turn of the page in a novel short-listed for the Booker Prize.

There’s much to discuss here, making this novel a perfect for pick for book clubs.

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