Originally published in 1995, this was Helen Dunmore's third book, her first, Zennor in Darkness, having won the McKitterick Prize. This one, however, did better and won the Orange Prize in 1996. It is told from the perspective of Catherine, a young girl from a fairly privileged background in the English countryside in the years leading up to the First World War. She lives with her brother, Rob, her grandfather and their servants, of whom Kate is the one she gets closest to. Their mother, their grandfather's daughter, has left the family home and gone to live abroad. There are constant references to the resemblance between Catherine and her mother, particularly of her hair which is black and curly betraying her Spanish heritage. Her grandfather was known as 'the man from nowhere' when he arrived in the English village as nobody knew anything about him.
There are a number of flashbacks in the novel which reveal Catherine's relationships to the people nearest to her. The servant, Kate, introduces the novel by relating a gruesome story of her uncle Joseph who is buried after too long a delay resulting in his arm falling off when he is transported downstairs in the house. The children, Catherine and Rob, listen in fascinated horror but it is a story that returns to haunt Catherine at later stages of her life. On a walk through the grounds with Catherine, Rob shoots a hare but he does not kill it outright and has to hit it with a stick but the incident disturbs both the children. The last time that the children see their father is when they are escorted by Miss Gallagher to visit him in a nursing home where it becomes clear that he has had a breakdown, most probably caused by the departure of his wife. Her father, at a later stage of the visit, confuses Catherine with her mother and begins to smother her with kisses upon which Rob hits him on the side of his head with a branch. Miss Gallagher has an unhealthy interest in Catherine which Catherine feels as a smothering love which she cannot bear. Another flashback is to a dance that is held by the grandfather when Catherine is probably eighteen. Her grandfather intends for her to marry George Bullivant, a wealthy man much older than her who is a new neighbour in the area. Catherine doesn't dislike him and she and Rob pay a visit to his house. Whilst Catherine is shown the garden and the inside room containing a collection of paintings, Rob goes to the stables to see Mr Bullivant's fine horse, Starcrossed. Rob watches his sister and George Bullivant together when he returns and, probably reacting through jealousy and an awareness of Mr Bullivant's interest in his sister, entices Catherine to make a snow house on their walk home. As they get inside the snow house the proximity of their bodies results in them having their first sexual encounter. After they return home the relationship continues but Catherine's mind begins to unravel. Unconsciously knowing they are doing the wrong thing, she cannot refuse Rob.
The language in the novel is vivid and poetic. The state of Catherine's inner consciousness is beautifully described as, after the tragic consequences of the sibling's relationship, she loses her grip on reality and suffers a breakdown. The inner life of the other characters is only really described as seen through Catherine's vision. The first chapter of the book is situated in almost the most recent episode of the timeline of the story. Catherine walks through the grounds of the house in Rob's coat and, as she looks at the house she thinks 'I have got what I wanted. A spell of winter hangs over it and everyone has gone'. But the story is not quite over and there are still one or two surprises in store for the reader and for Catherine.
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