The concept of the magical bargain has long been part of fantasy. Supernatural beings and mortals cross paths and either a desire for or to stop something leads to someone asking for a magical solution. Sometimes this solves the problem and sometimes bargains have hidden clauses. The Devil clearly has a good legal team. What though fascinated me about Shona Kinsella’s entrancing fantasy novel The Heart of Winter is how it’s about a character actually standing up to the powerful and saying no I don’t want to be the bargain. This creates a very refreshing tale with subtle inversions and gorgeous storytelling.

Long long ago there was a small Scottish village of crofters battling the elements each year to survive. When it is clear winter this year will be exceptionally hard and food scarce the village elders decide a sacrifice to Aengus Lord of Summer is required. He refuses to take an elder’s life as sacrifice but instead says he will marry Brigit a bright kind girl he has noticed. The elders agree but find Brigit is aghast that this is the plan. Brigit decides only want person is strong enough to stop Aengus and so she makes her way across the land to Ben Nevis to seek Cailleach the Queen of Winter. It will not easy and Winter does not like mortals but all will be surprised how things develop.

I hugely enjoyed this tale and loved that it’s about someone saying no - Brigit from early scenes is shown to know her own mind and Kinsella shows this is a time a young woman has few Orion’s. Brigit’s best friend gets married off to a widower as he needs someone to mind the kids. Brigit’s situation is in many ways the same and she finds she doesn’t want to be a sacrifice even if that is luxury with a god. A tale of independence and it’s refreshing to also see Brigit’s parents (who are lovely!) also fully support her. A young woman deciding to refuse a god and goes to sort things out with other gods! How could I not enjoy that?

The first half of the book then is Brigit going to Ben Nevis which Kinsella creates via that storytelling into a wild and distinct journey with obstacles, fierce weather and hints of the supernatural. Eventually the Cailleach is found and the next challenge is getting her aid when she is extremely reluctant! So our mortal takes on another powerful immortal and it’s here where the story adds a fresh dimension. Brigit isn’t about battles of wits; she’s about being kind but firmly saying I’m not going anywhere and showing her kind nature. There is an ancient folktale feel on these sections with Cailleach with three eyes and a black and a white will in tow; a magical castle under aurora borealis and lots and lots of magic and godly insights. But the key is the rich friendships these two people who both admit they don’t quite fit in their own worlds bond over. It’s an unusual friendship that we tend not to see in these tales that works really well. I also really enjoy the introvert grouchy Queen of Winter here who feels undervalued by the mortals but just possibly has a few more layers to her than your average Snow Queen.

In the second half Aengus tries to get Brigit and that sets in motion an unexpected direction for the tale. Kinsella adds in the land of the fae; witches and other gods to richly give the story more depth and this turns out not to be the tale I was thinking it is. The reveals are natural and work very well with the wider elements of the story. It’s not a story of villains per se - everyone has flawed reasons for what they do but always refreshing when kindness and learning to listen to one another perhaps is a more useful skill than we tend to praise for example a prowess with a sword.

The storytelling makes this come together and that’s very much down to Kinsella’s use of language; the weaving in of natural and cultural tradition; a little bit of history as we see a time of pagan and Christian beliefs sitting uncomfortably together make the story come alive. Kinsella makes you feel and see the land of long ago and this feels an ancient lost tale retold but for me feels pleasantly at the same time modern.

The Heart in Winter is an apt tale for this time of year that reminds us that Winter has its uses just as much as summer and that being true to who you are and making people learn your own value can be incredibly rewarding. A tale for an almost sunny or rainy evening as the temperature may or may not be rising plus a comfy chair and good drink. Highly recommended and a reminder that Shona Kinsella is an author to watch out for!

5 Stars!

Flame Tree Press has been renewing my faith in the fantasy genre. I used to read a lot of fantasy and had drifted away from it as too many of the books I read seemed to be the same thing. Flame Tree has been putting out some great fantasy novels from authors I am not familiar with, and The Heart of Winter by Shona Kinsella looked like it could be another gem. The promise of fantasy, folklore, and myth in this revisioning of Brighid and the Cailleach was enough to draw me in and I was eager to see what fantastic world the book had in store.



Brigit lived a simple life and had simple expectations and dreams. She had seen friends placed in marriages against their choice and knew that, while arranged marriages were normal in her village, she wanted to marry who she wanted and when she wanted to marry. When the crops started failing and winter loomed on the horizon, with the prospect of starvation for many in the town, the elders of the town strike a deal with Aengus, the god of Summer: Brigit is to be his wife in exchange for Aengus pushing back winter to allow their crops to grow and the people to survive. This seems an acceptable trade to everyone but Brigit and her family. Desperate to avoid marriage to someone she does not know much less love, Brigit travels to appeal to Cailleach, the goddess of Winter, to get her released from the marriage.



Dealing with the gods is never easy, though, and Aengus will not easily give up in his quest to make Brigit his wife. Cailleach wants nothing to do with Brigit at first but is moved by the woman’s resolve. Brigit finds herself in the middle of an ages old dispute and caught up in the intrigue of the pantheon of the gods. With Aengus growing bolder and the people of her village beginning to suffer from the broken agreement, she must decide if her pride and free will are worth the price. No one can challenge the gods without consequences, and no matter the outcome, the experience will change her. The question is whether she can come through the ordeal and serve her village while maintaining her free will. It seems like an impossible task for one woman to stand against the will of a god, but she knows it is a challenge she must undertake.



The Heart of Winter starts out a little slowly although this makes sense as the story progresses. The groundwork for the story is laid when Brigit watches a close friend enter an arranged marriage. Her new husband is kind but does not love her. Brigit knows that this a much as many women can expect in her village, but she does not want to have to settle to the whims of the world simply because she is a woman. She is strong-willed, maybe even too much so in the world surrounding her and will not settle for anything more than control over her destiny. Kinsella lets the reader know this used to be the way of things, but this has changed over time. Brigit is not afraid to take on the norms of society. She is a strong but kind woman and a very strong character overall. There is a strong feminist message in this story and Kinsella does a good job of exploring that in a thoughtful and thorough manner. Too often, characters such as Brigit come across as overbearing or maybe even somewhat selfish, but this is not the case here. It is easy for the reader to empathize with her and cheer for her as she struggles to maintain her independence. Kinsella makes this aspect of the story very human and that helps to balance out the more fantastic elements of the story.



The fantasy is there in the novel as the cast of characters and creatures include several gods, a witch, a pair of (magical?) wolves, and a strange breed of poisonous bird. There are spells and enchantments and rituals. These things are there and blend into the story, and even enhance it, but they are not the centerpiece of the novel. Most of the conflict in this novel is internal and the external just serves to help illustrate it. Like the fairy tales and folk stories of old, the strength of the story comes back to the morals and beliefs of the main characters, and it is Brigit’s strength that carries this tale. There is not a whole lot of action in the story, and it follows a traditional thread of storytelling, so the shocks are few and far between, but this is a strength rather than a detriment. It just makes this story so easy to slip into and get lost with the world Kinsella creates. The Heart of Winter is, quite simply, the best fantasy novel I have read in a long, long time and, quite honestly, an instant classic in the genre. It is only February as I write this review, but I will be surprised if this is not the best book I read this year when the calendar flips to 2025. The Heart of Winter gets my highest possible recommendation, and not just for fans of the genre. I would challenge any reader to try this book even if fantasy is not your thing. This book is just that good.



I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. The Heart of Winter is scheduled for release on April 16, 2024.