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mh_books's Reviews (1.12k)
This is a story about Emerence, an enigmatic Hungarian elderly woman, as told by the rarely named lady writer. It’s also a story of how the lady writer, the local cats, a crazy dog and the whole neighbourhood were affected by someone who turned out to be more than an illiterate cleaning woman.
There is not a lot of narrative in the novel and the ending of the story is more or less given away by the opening paragraphs. This novel is all about the mystery of the Character of Emerence and her motivations. It asks questions about love, friendship, and betrayal. It’s the kind of novel where at least one of these questions will stay with you. It’s needlessly sad, especially at the end but then again I guess so is life.
Overall it has stayed with me and I suppose that is great writing? I don’t pretend to be an expert on this however, it desires five stars for that at least. I would like to thank the Goodreads Ireland group for selecting this as their August read I never would have come across Szabo otherwise. I look forward to reading another translation of one of her novels.
There is not a lot of narrative in the novel and the ending of the story is more or less given away by the opening paragraphs. This novel is all about the mystery of the Character of Emerence and her motivations. It asks questions about love, friendship, and betrayal. It’s the kind of novel where at least one of these questions will stay with you. It’s needlessly sad, especially at the end but then again I guess so is life.
Overall it has stayed with me and I suppose that is great writing? I don’t pretend to be an expert on this however, it desires five stars for that at least. I would like to thank the Goodreads Ireland group for selecting this as their August read I never would have come across Szabo otherwise. I look forward to reading another translation of one of her novels.
“Sometimes that is how the most important insights came, in drips and drops, You took a step back and there is was: a waterway.”
Yes, Wolf Winter is a little of a slow burner but it’s worth it. At first I was very unimpressed with the characters and setting but steadily, steadily, as ice forms and a lake freezes over, the characters grew on me. The slow pace is in fact central to the story and is a reflection of the isolation of the characters' lives as they are stranded by weather conditions in Swedish Lapland.
We have several mysteries hidden within the novel. The central and obvious mystery being the opening murder and who amongst such a small number of people can possibly be responsible. But there is also the mystery of every characters past life and let's just say a lot more happening then was immediately obvious to me as I read the story. Without giving anything away I will conclude that the closing chapters include a lot of revelations.
This is definitely one for a reread for me and recommended to anyone who likes a mix of Nordic,historic, crime fiction with a slight supernatural twist.
Yes, Wolf Winter is a little of a slow burner but it’s worth it. At first I was very unimpressed with the characters and setting but steadily, steadily, as ice forms and a lake freezes over, the characters grew on me. The slow pace is in fact central to the story and is a reflection of the isolation of the characters' lives as they are stranded by weather conditions in Swedish Lapland.
We have several mysteries hidden within the novel. The central and obvious mystery being the opening murder and who amongst such a small number of people can possibly be responsible. But there is also the mystery of every characters past life and let's just say a lot more happening then was immediately obvious to me as I read the story. Without giving anything away I will conclude that the closing chapters include a lot of revelations.
This is definitely one for a reread for me and recommended to anyone who likes a mix of Nordic,historic, crime fiction with a slight supernatural twist.
This is my favourite book of 2017 so far. I will write a review soon when I work out what I want to say.
