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3.02 AVERAGE
3.02 AVERAGE
A hint of magical realism, a hint of mystery, quirky but not cogent.
The Winterlings is a whimsical, fairy-tale-esque story about two sisters who return to a small (local) Spanish village which they fled mysteriously when they were young on their grandfather’s warning. Upon returning, old wounds are reopened as to their leaving and a secret unbeknownst but very much connected to them brews unrest in the community anew. Furthermore, their life away has resulted in a complicated interdependence in their relationship and the Winterlings harbour secrets of their own that they are at pains to keep private.
Readable, slightly surreal, a tad average and melancholic, whilst reading I felt infused with flavours of Darling Buds of May and Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (although unlike ‘One Hundred Years…’ this was sufficiently succinct and enjoyable). The characters are somewhat stereotypical and the plot centres around quintessential village life i.e. everyone being in everyone’s business; intrigue, deception, gossip-mongering and secrets littering the social landscape. Slowly the mysteries are teased out as more and more details of the sisters’ time away are divulged. Alongside this, the growing feelings of malcontent in the village increase and past misdemeanours surface.
The Winterlings is a quick, amusing read but I do wonder how it won the English pen award, since it didn’t pull up any trees. Regardless, I give it a solid and respectable 3/5
Readable, slightly surreal, a tad average and melancholic, whilst reading I felt infused with flavours of Darling Buds of May and Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (although unlike ‘One Hundred Years…’ this was sufficiently succinct and enjoyable). The characters are somewhat stereotypical and the plot centres around quintessential village life i.e. everyone being in everyone’s business; intrigue, deception, gossip-mongering and secrets littering the social landscape. Slowly the mysteries are teased out as more and more details of the sisters’ time away are divulged. Alongside this, the growing feelings of malcontent in the village increase and past misdemeanours surface.
The Winterlings is a quick, amusing read but I do wonder how it won the English pen award, since it didn’t pull up any trees. Regardless, I give it a solid and respectable 3/5
Two sisters return to the vilage they were exiled from as children, to reclaim their ancestral home and resolve the mystery of the deceased grandfather