The Land in Winter is a 2024 novel by Andrew Miller published by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. The novel tells the story of two young married couples living in the British West Country during the Big Freeze of 1963, with the narrative spanning December 1962 to February 1963.
The novel won the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The judges said the novel "painted big themes on a subtle canvas of tiny detail" and described its prose as being "as softly dazzling as the snow of the 1962/63 winter in which the novel is set".[2] The 1962-3 setting fell just within the Prize's definition of "historical" as at least sixty years earlier. Miller had been shortlisted for the Prize twice before.[3]
It was longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, with the judges describing it a "dazzling chronicle of the human heart".[4]
Narrative
Eric Parry and his wife Irene live in a country cottage in the West Country of Britain during the early 1960s. Eric is one of two general practitioners in the area and his wife stays at home. Irene, originally from London, feels bored and out of place in the countryside.
Another young, married couple, Bill Simmons and his wife Rita, live on a nearby farm. They are new arrivals to the West Country. Bill bought the dairy farm rashly upon leaving The University of Oxford without a degree and is overwhelmed by and ill-prepared for his new role as a farmer. His wife, Rita, was a dancer in a club in Bristol and, like Irene, she also feels out of place in her new setting.
Both Rita and Irene are newly pregnant. Eric is cheating on his wife with Alison, his married patient.
The two couples hold a party for Boxing Day in 1962. They invite friends and acquaintances, including Alison and her husband. Irene and Rita form a friendship at that party. The interactions between the characters reach a climax during the party; they become more drunk as the party progresses, while outside, a large blizzard is forming.
Reception
Writing for The Times Literary Supplement, Jude Cook stated that the two couples' development, with their transition from socially traditional values to becoming sexually bold, was intimately depicted in the work and added tension to the plot.[5] Writing for The Guardian, Rachel Seiffert stated that Miller dramatically depicted life in early 1960s England, with the repercussions of World War II and The Holocaust still present. Seiffert stated: "It is a mark of Miller's skill that he makes spare mention of either, and yet they loom large." Sieffert also stated that despite the snowy backdrop, this is not a bleak book, as the characters and their interactions are invigorating for the work.[6] Writing for the Financial Times, Lucy Scholes stated that the characters' inner upheavals and conflicts were depicted with great tenderness. Scholes stated: "...the delicate attention Miller affords his characters’ inner lives makes for incredibly satisfying reading."[7]
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