Bookseller Reviews
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'The most credible, tender writing '
Stunning. I inhaled this in three days at all hours, gripped by the tale of four lives lived through the extreme winter of 1962-3.
Irene and Eric, count... READ MORE
Andrew Miller has done it again
What an absolute gem! Beautiful tender, insightful writing. The cold and fog are so wonderfully described, you almost feel a shiver. A truly talented write... READ MORE
Subtly and quietly brilliant
This subtle book is set in the cold winter 1962-1963 and revolves around two sets of neighbours. There's the self important GP, Eric, who lives in a centr... READ MORE
Booker Short listed,may win.
Two young men and their wives live across the field in an unnamed village in the West Country. Eric is a doctor with a secret and Bill is the son of a weal... READ MORE
Synopsis
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2025
December 1962, a small village near Bristol.
Eric and Irene and Bill and Rita. Two young couples living next to each other, the first in a beautiful cottage - suitable for a newly appointed local doctor - the second in a rundown, perennially under-heated farm. Despite their apparent differences, the two women (both pregnant) strike an easy friendship - a connection that comes as a respite from the surprising tediousness of married life, with its unfulfilled expectations, growing resentments and the ghosts of a recent past.
But as one of the coldest winters on record grips England in a never-ending frost and as the country is enveloped in a thick, soft, unmoving layer of snow, the two couples find themselves cut off from the rest of the world. And without the small distractions of everyday existence, suddenly old tensions and shocking new discoveries threaten to change the course of their lives forever.
A masterful, page-turning examination of the minutiae of life, The Land in Winter is a masterclass in storytelling - proof yet again that Andrew Miller is one of Britain's most dazzling chroniclers of the human heart.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 9781529354270
- Number of pages: 384
- Dimensions: 236 x 160 x 38 mm
- Weight: 588g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allA human perspective
Intrigue held my attention from the outset. An unsettling and, at times, depressing story of two couples living in a small country community in the depths ... READ MORE
Another superbly written, wonderful read from Andrew Miller.
What a treat to enjoy another superbly written, wonderful read from Andrew Miller. ‘The Land in Winter’ is set in the notoriously harsh winter of 1962. I... READ MORE
Gentle Examination of the Human Condition
This is a slow and gentle story about people who are examining their own lives and their relationships against the backdrop of a cold and long winter. in a... READ MORE
Tender, deep invocation of the harsh winter of 1962 and 1963, through 2 couples’ lives
I have read several of Miller’s novels : he is always an author I know will immerse me into a layered, beautifully created world, with complex, fully round... READ MORE
A miniaturist exploration of trauma, history and desperation
In the unrelenting winter of 1962, two neighbouring rural households—a doctor and his pregnant wife, a son of an emigre playing at farms and his aspiration... READ MORE
Nicely descriptive but nothing really happens until the last 10%
Lovely description of winter but the book is so slow building. And for me personally I couldn’t warm to any of the characters. I wouldn’t recommend it to b... READ MORE
An engrossing, atmospheric novel
Andrew Miller occasionally sets his novels in the present but excels at historical fiction whether it be the 18th century of my favourite, Ingenious Pain, ... READ MORE
Evocative and charming - and chilly!
An evocative and charming account of the coldest winter on record of 1962, and the events that happen between a country doctor and his wife, and their neig... READ MORE
A gentle exploration of relationships
The Land in Winter is a taut exploration of four individuals, comprising of two couples, who are recently edged into each others orbits, living adjacently ... READ MORE
A very realistic account of two very different couples…
This book is so realistic, it could be written about two couples you already know. There is always the undercurrent that Rita is struggling with her mental... READ MORE
Not quite 1962 as claimed...
This novel is shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2025, so I thought it would be good to read it. The events of the novel are focused on the big freeze of ... READ MORE
Rambling, boring and unengaging
I was very much looking forward to reading this book featuring my home town in the winter before I was born. Sadly I was hugely disappointed. The story is ... READ MORE
Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed. It left me cold. As cold as the landscape.
300+ pages and no quote? Yes, exactly. No quotes to highlight, no extracts. Nothing.
Which is pretty much what I can tell you about this novel.
Nothi... READ MORE
The Secret Bookreview
Set against the backdrop of the coldest winter in living memory, the novel takes place in the countryside during 1962-63, a time when the relentless cold b... READ MORE
Brilliant study of people and change
The winter of 1962-1963 has slid into folklore. Known as the 'Big Freeze', I am too young to remember it but I have heard of the stories of isolation, froz... READ MORE
Atmospheric and gripping
Many thanks to Andrew Miller, Netgalley, and the publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, for an ARC of this novel, which is published on 24 October. A Land in Wi... READ MORE
Pulls you in and doesn't let you go
One December morning in 1962, Rita crosses the field separating her husband's farm from the doctor's cottage and so begins her unlikely friendship with Ire... READ MORE
wonderful writing
The joy of Mr Miller's writing is the time he takes to allow readers to really get to know his characters and, particularly in this book, how their present... READ MORE
Two couples, neighbours but living through a terrible winter.
It is December 1962 and soon the land will be covered in snow. Eric is a doctor in the local village and leaves his wife at home. She meets her neighbour f... READ MORE
Should have won the prize
A wonderful novel, for me the best of the booker shortlist and my book of the year (though of course there may be a wonder I have not read !)
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miler is the story of two couples, who live next to each other in December, 1962, in the West Country. Eric Parry, is the loca... READ MORE
Booker Shortlisted 2025
I've previously read and absolutely loved Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller so when I saw his latest book The Land in Winter was longlisted fo... READ MORE
Quietly Powerful
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller is a quietly powerful novel, beautifully written and rich with atmosphere. Miller's prose is elegant, and his explorati... READ MORE
Wonderful, well written
Set in the harsh winter of 1962/63, snow blankets the ground, communities cut off, people isolated in their homes. Doctor Eric Parry and farmer Bill Simmon... READ MORE
Verified Purchase
Strong emotions and winter struggles.
This book is beautiful to read. You become so immersed in the characters you just want to keep on reading. The fierce winter is tangible and the drama just... READ MORE
Verified Purchase