The Land in Winter explores two young couples over the harsh winter of 1962-63 in the UK. It is more of a character novel than a plot novel, although mostly I would describe it as a novel that explores post war society and lingering family trauma. This winter was historically cold, with huge amount of snow which caused shortages of services and uncertainty, closed roads, less supply in the village shop, cows stop giving milk etc, no news come through, which makes for a great oppressive atmosphere.
I liked the novel, but I expected a different, more resolving ending or more evolution of the characters, which is kind of a big caveat. I think Andrew Miller is a great writer and the novel is definitely worth reading, but it is not for everyone. I have seen many bad reviews, some good ones. The bad ones all said the book was boring and depressing. Well, depressing it is, that's kind of the point of you study trauma or war impact on ordinary people. As for boring, I don't agree, I read it in 4 days and for me that's very fast, the short chapters, alternating the 4 people who form the two couples is quite engaging. You see what's going on with the countryside's doctor and then you see what kind of day the young man who bought the farm across the field is having, then you get to the doctor's wife , then to the farmers wife. They also meet. The good reviews point out how interesting it was to see how lost and fragile the men and women really were in their adulthood, and how they have survived the war but don't really know where to go from there, the war experiences are up their youth and it seems affected the relationship with their parents as well. There's a lot of insecurities around "how a man should behave" and be strong, make money and control the wife and a lot of "how a woman should behave", as the culture is definitely changing, it always does, and the young question the traditional roles to an extent, but they can't resolve the questions that burn in them, maybe not even name them. What really drives you crazy as a reader is the constant smoking and drinking. The characters consume far more tabak and alcohol than normal food, and both of the women are pregnant. I think that is driving the psychological tension up, for us 21st century readership.
