How can you explain being instantly drawn into a book where nothing happens? That is what happened to me during the first chapter of A Winter's Love. Emily Bowen is spending time in a foreign country with her husband and children during the Christmas holidays. Her husband lost his teaching post over office politics. In a house full of people, Emily is alone. Her husband locks himself in his study and in his thoughts. Torn between loving him, hating him and being ignored it is hard when a friend from the States is vacationing at the casino near her hotel. He sees her. He hears her. And she struggles to do the right thing by her husband. Gripping, atmospheric, and one of the things we require in a great book - universal truths and emotions that touch all people of all backgrounds. An absolutely fabulous read.

Although an early work by L'Engle, the writing is still beautiful. Some of the characters in this story show up in some of her later works. This is a story of love and conflict and morality. Emily has a tough choice to make and much time is spent examining her feelings. The story flowed well and the characters were interesting. This story is being republished as I understand it was out of print and difficult to find. I wanted to read it because I loved L'Engle's [book:A Wrinkle in Time|18131].

Thanks to Open Road Integrated Media through NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this quiet and persuasive tale of domestic life, first published in 1957 but with themes and conflicts that are timeless. Courtney Bowen has lost his job in academia and takes his wife and two daughters to spend a year in the French Alps where he hopes to be able to concentrate on his writing. But his failure to do so causes him to withdraw from family life and the strains this puts on his marriage causes his wife Emily to doubt her relationship with him and find herself increasingly drawn to an old friend Abe Fielding. Nothing very original in such a scenario but it is deftly and convincingly handled. Not exactly Anna Karenina but a love story on a small scale – which after all is the most any of us experience in real life. It’s an insightful exploration of marriage, desire, fidelity and temptation, a convincing portrait of motherhood and the divided loyalties of a good woman sorely tempted by an alternative life. It all takes place not long after WWII and there are still echoes, with one of the characters having been in the Resistance and a concentration camp, and another having hosted German officers. But essentially it’s a love story, a story of a marriage and domesticity and a gentle and compelling read.

A Winter's Love is a very powerful novel and very thought-provoking. The characters were very likable and well-developed. The setting was evocative. Though the ending was sad, I liked it and thought it was realistic.