I quite liked this. Three completely different stories and I appreciated each journey. I found the last one took a bit longer for me to get into and it didn't leave as much of an impact as the other two, but it was still a good addition.
A strong collection all in all. Would be interested to read more from this author.

A collection of well written short stories, although I struggled to have a strong emotional response from any of them. I enjoyed the atmospheric nature of the tales, and the themes explored, but I think they were just a bit too short for me to have any deep level of connection to them.

I was totally involved with the 3 main characters in these short stories. I was so sad when I finished. We hear so little about people like these who the system has failed. Each one has to go through dark times but each is left with hope. Such beautiful writing. I certainly lived every moment

Big Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

'Winter Stories' is a collection of three short stories by Ingvild Rishoi with a winter theme, as all of them take place during the winter months, but follow three different characters as they deal with life and family. All of the stories are interesting with unique characters and unfold slowly, revealing their depth as the stream of thoughts moves forward.

However, it takes a few pages to get familiar with the writing style and to understand how the narrative is constructed. But, in the end, it is all worth it, as the intriguing characters deal with their problems and with those close to them.

This review is also posted on Goodreads and Storygraph.

We have three stories that make up this book by Ingvild Rishøi. Each one of them is made up with bad feelings that are not right with each of them. They are known to be unworthy of each trouble that they are plagued with. We have different endings in each case and they may not be what you would have them do, but in every case it's what the author wants.

Winter Stories, a collection of three stories, felt pretty similar in tone to the author's Brightly Shining (tr by Caroline Waight) that I read last Christmas - melancholic, mildly atmospheric and largely heartbreaking/devoid of hope. Despair reigns over the scape of the stories written in pared down prose. Men here mostly shirk off their responsibilities, quite like the alcoholic father in Brightly Shining and women/girls have to run around doing errands and ekeing out a living.

The collection begins with story 'We can't help everybody', story of mother-daughter duo who despite their financial hardships help a stranger only to receive a helping hand from another stranger who appears on the scene like an angel.

The Right Thomas, the next story, slightly longer than the first one is about a man who can't set things right about his ways. He has serves a sentence in the prison, is unable to connect with his son the way he would like to because of his carefree ways and alcohol addiction. By forgetting what he sets out to do on an evening before heading back home to his son, remembering it suddenly and then forgetting it again, this story kinda loops around itself.

Siblings, the last and the longest story, is about an elder sister suffering from trauma of an overburdened childhood and loss/death of her father finding it difficult to balance her own needs with caring for her self-indulgent mother and younger half-sister and half-brother.

In all the stories, there is a slight element of tension on what's next. The setting is bleak and the characters suffer from stress and anxiety. With both Winter Stories and Brightly Shining, all set in Norway, you feel an environment of stillness and emotional frigidity with meager desire/action for bringing change, maybe reflective of the geography of the ice covered land itself.
Rating - 3.5 stars
Thank you Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.

Winter Stories would be a good companion read to Rishøi's novella, Brightly Shining. The first story in this collection was my favorite, but I quickly lost interest in the other two.

A collection of short stories (three stories) that revolves around themes of family and the lengths they go in protecting their frail bonds with each other against forces that are beyond their control: poverty, social expectations and fleeting love.
These families all belongs to the working class and products of broken family and their dysfunctions are expected by society to continue into the next generations but all three protagonists of each of these stories tries with all they have, despite their self-doubt and the prevailing expectations by others that they ‘might’ fail in their pursuit, that they can break the cycle of broken family and broken dreams throught their own perseverance and unwavering love for their own precious family.

A con of this novella is its slow pace and descriptions.

Anyway, a solid 3,75 star for this book. Thank you netgalley for the digital arc.

On unexpected moments that remind us that this place still has good bones

What do the stories of a single mother, ex-convict, and eldest child have in common?

A moment of kindness.

The main characters in the three stories by Ingvild Rishøi are all people trying to keep their families together, in very different ways. The mother who tries to teach her child kindness, a ex-convict trying to adjust to life outside of prison and setting up a home that his son can visit, and a parentified older sister dealing with grief and keeping the kids safe while her mother gives up on her.

Each story, set in winter, has a significant amount of despair.

Each story is made very different by a moment of kindness by someone who had no reason to give them a second though.

The random man who gives money for underwear, the school friend who helps buy a pillow and a strange woman with pizza.

Each story is also very quiet. The sounds are muffled like a snowy winter; something not easy to do. I loved this, although another reader might find this aspect a bit dull, even though this was a 5 star read for me!

3.5. Some parts of this book really got to me. Like the love between parents and their child, or how these people try to hold on even when everything's falling apart. The writing is real, like walking alone in the snow at night. But I also felt a bit distant from it. Maybe too quiet. I wanted more warmth, or maybe more fire. But these stories touched me, and I'm glad I read it. Thank you Netgalley for the copy of this book.

4.25⭐

Received a copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review

This was a poignant, painful, realistic, and deeply human collection of short stories. Each short story delivers a gut punch through its portrayal of different, struggling yet flawed characters and viewpoints. Featuring raw frustration, anger, despair, and desolation, which weigh down each narrative.

We Can't Help Everybody
Features a struggling single mother and her daughter who pull at your heartstrings and can draw out tears. It felt agonisingly real and bleak.

The Right Thomas
Explores the difficulty experienced by an ex-convict attempting to develop a relationship with his young son. Touching on PTSD, anxiety, unhealthy coping mechanisms/substance abuse, negative expectations of others, and fractured relationships. Utterly emotive and thought-provoking.

Siblings
The lengths a sister will go to protect and care for her younger siblings. Desperation, grief and neglect rear their ugly heads.