A Place Called Winter: Costa Shortlisted 2015

Description

In the golden 1900s, Harry Cane, a shy, eligible gentleman of leisure is drawn from a life of quiet routine into courting and marrying Winnie, eldest daughter of the fatherless Wells clan, who are not quite as respectable as they would appear. They settle by the sea and have a daughter and conventional marriage does not seem such a tumultuous change after all. When a chance encounter awakens scandalous desires never acknowledged until now, however, Harry is forced to forsake the land and people he loves for a harsh new life as a homesteader on the newly colonized Canadian prairies. There, in a place called Winter, he will come to find a deep love within an alternative family, a love imperiled by war, madness and an evil man of undeniable magnetism.

Patrick Gale was born on the Isle of Wight. He spent his infancy at Wandsworth Prison, which his father governed, then grew up in Winchester before going to Oxford University. He now lives on a farm near Land's End in Cornwall.

Patrick Gale treats the love that dare not speak its name with insight and sensitivity... - Sydney Morning Herald The book may be set in the past, but it has a contemporary story to tell. And while the focus is on a gay character, it's relevant to all. - Daily Telegraph, Sydney From the powerful opening in a mental asylum until the story comes full circle, this novel will captivate with its extraordinary and layered content that was inspired by real events. - Good Reading Australia What Gale does so well is to delineate the unpremeditated consequences of actions...The final chapter left me with a lump in my throat - Guardian Late at night on the day a new Patrick Gale arrives I am always to be found crouching on the icy bathroom floor, banished from the bedroom for keeping my husband awake, feverishly turning the pages - Spectator A master storyteller. Quite simply, you believe every word he tells you - Independent on Sunday A writer with heart, soul, and a dark and naughty wit, one whose company you relish and trust - Observer