 First edition | |
| Author | Ali Smith |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | David Hockney, Winter Tunnel with Snow 2006 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Hamish Hamilton |
Publication date | 2017 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 322 |
| ISBN | 978-0241207024 |
| Preceded by | Autumn |
| Followed by | Spring |
Winter is a 2017 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published by Hamish Hamilton, and the second of a Seasonal quartet. [1]
A family gathers in a large Cornwall house for a Christmas reunion. Joining matriarch Sophia and sister Iris is son Art, and Lux, who they believe to be Art's girlfriend, Charlotte. Art has paid Lux to pretend to be Charlotte for Christmas. Sophia suffers from visions of a disembodied child's head which follows her around, Iris is in her 70s, one of the original Greenham women, Art is a nature blogger hijacked by the original Charlotte. Lux is a Croatian and is unable to maintain her identity as Charlotte. But, like a figure in a Shakespearean romance —there are many references to “Cymbeline” - Lux magically brings Art, Iris, and Sophia together. [1]
Upon release, Winter was generally well-received. According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on twenty-five critic reviews with fourteen being "rave" and nine being "positive" and two being "mixed". [2] In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(4.00 out of 5) from the site which was based on six critic reviews. [3] On Bookmarks March/April 2018 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "But the critics were wowed by Smith's "trademark mischievous wit" (Independent) and cogent social critique". [4] [5] [6]
The Blind Assassin is a novel by the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 2000. The book is set in the fictional Ontario town of Port Ticonderoga and in Toronto. It is narrated from the present day, referring to previous events that span the twentieth century but mostly the 1930s and 1940s. It is a work of historical fiction with the major events of Canadian history forming an important backdrop, for example, the On-to-Ottawa Trek and a 1934 Communist rally at Maple Leaf Gardens. Greater verisimilitude is given by a series of newspaper articles commenting on events and on the novel's characters from a distance.
The Line of Beauty is a 2004 Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst.
Netherland (2008) is a novel by Joseph O'Neill. It concerns the life of a Dutchman living in New York in the wake of the September 11 attacks who takes up cricket and starts playing at the Staten Island Cricket Club.
The Sea is a 2005 novel by John Banville. His fourteenth novel, it won the 2005 Booker Prize.
On Beauty is a 2005 novel by British author Zadie Smith, loosely based on Howards End by E. M. Forster. The story follows the lives of a mixed-race British/American family living in the United States, addresses ethnic and cultural differences in both the USA and the UK, as well as the nature of beauty, and the clash between liberal and conservative academic values. It takes its title from an essay by Elaine Scarry—"On Beauty and Being Just". The Observer described the novel as a "transatlantic comic saga".
The Summer Book is a novel written by the Finnish author Tove Jansson in 1972.
The Accidental is a 2005 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith. It follows a middle-class English family who are visited by an uninvited guest, Amber, while they are on holiday in a small village in Norfolk. Amber's arrival has a profound effect on all the family members. Eventually she is cast out the house by the mother, Eve. But the consequences of her appearance continue even after the family has returned home to London.
Mating (1991) is a novel by American author Norman Rush. It is a first-person narrative by an unnamed American anthropology graduate student in Botswana around 1980. It focuses on her relationship with Nelson Denoon, a controversial American social scientist who has founded an experimental matriarchal village in the Kalahari desert.
Wolf Hall is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More. The novel won both the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels".
Untold Story is a novel by Monica Ali, her fourth book after two novels and a collection of short stories. It asks what would have happened if Princess Diana had not died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 but had arranged for her own disappearance and tried to live an undiscovered life in a small American town. In the novel, Princess Diana is portrayed in fictional form as an English expat named Lydia. The story is told through a combination of third person narrative, diary entries of the princess's former personal secretary, Lawrence Standing, and letters written by Lydia.
Love and Summer is a 2009 novel written by William Trevor. It was long-listed for the Booker prize. The story takes place in the fictitious town of Rathmoye in Ireland during the 1950s. It concerns the illicit love between a photographer and the young married wife of a farmer.
The Goldfinch is a novel by the American author Donna Tartt. It won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, among other honors. Published in 2013, it was Tartt's first novel since The Little Friend in 2002.
How to Be Both is a 2014 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published by Hamish Hamilton. It was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize and the 2015 Folio Prize. It won the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize, the Novel Award in the 2014 Costa Book Awards and the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.
Autumn is a 2016 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published by Hamish Hamilton. It is the first of four seasonal ‘state of the nation’ works. Written rapidly after the United Kingdom's 2016 European Union membership referendum, it was widely regarded as the first 'post-Brexit novel' dealing with the issues raised by the voters' decision. In July 2017, Autumn was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and in September 2017 it was announced as one of six books to make the shortlist. Many newspapers viewed it as the most likely candidate for winning; it was beaten by George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo.
Grand Union: Stories is a 2019 short story collection by Zadie Smith. It was published on 3 October 2019 by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Books.
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a 2018 thriller novel by Nigerian writer Oyinkan Braithwaite. Braithwaite's debut novel was originally published in Nigeria as an e-book with the title Thicker Than Water in 2017 before being released in the United States by Doubleday Books on November 20, 2018.
Artful is a 2012 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith and published by Hamish Hamilton. It was shortlisted for the inaugural Goldsmiths Prize in 2013.
Spring is a 2019 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published by Hamish Hamilton. It was long-listed for the Orwell Prize (2020).
Small Things like These is a historical fiction novel by Claire Keegan, published on 30 November 2021 by Grove Press. In 2022, the book won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Booker Prize.
Summer is a 2020 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published by Hamish Hamilton.