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A review by lochnessvhs
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
2.0
The title of this book is clickbait.
I truly felt as if someone handed me a book and completely lied to me when telling me what it was about. While May uses the term "Wintering" throughout, she uses it in multiple ways - not just the season of winter, but also as a colloquial word meaning 'a challenging time in life'. However, the subtitle, "The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times"? It is not until the March chapter "Survival", near the end of the book, that rest and retreat is really discussed. A quick discussion of staying home and knitting. And then we move on.
If this is what rest and retreat is, I am not interested. The vast majority of this book is about being outside of your home, doing things, meeting people, trying new experiences and learning from them. Which, yes, is a very important part of life. But that is not what the book promised me. When I want to rest and retreat I don't think about flying to Iceland or jumping in freezing water or visiting Stonehenge at 6am - I think about staying home and taking care of myself.
More noteworthy disappointments were the chapter titled "Midwinter" (the aforementioned Stonhenge trip) which is a strange dump of othering as the author is clearly trying, and failing, to toe the line of being respectful while at the same time othering and making fun of groups of people whose actions don't align with her own. And near the end of the book, the chapter "Cold Water" where she interviews a woman who claims to have cured her Bipolar Disorder with taking ice baths. Not just a laughable concept, but an incredibly dangerous one to put in print.
There is some substance here. The author's own journey with cold sea bathing and her introduction to saunas both were lovely stories - and I intend to find myself a sauna this winter as a result. But overall this is not the book that the blurbs, nor the title, promised.
I truly felt as if someone handed me a book and completely lied to me when telling me what it was about. While May uses the term "Wintering" throughout, she uses it in multiple ways - not just the season of winter, but also as a colloquial word meaning 'a challenging time in life'. However, the subtitle, "The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times"? It is not until the March chapter "Survival", near the end of the book, that rest and retreat is really discussed. A quick discussion of staying home and knitting. And then we move on.
If this is what rest and retreat is, I am not interested. The vast majority of this book is about being outside of your home, doing things, meeting people, trying new experiences and learning from them. Which, yes, is a very important part of life. But that is not what the book promised me. When I want to rest and retreat I don't think about flying to Iceland or jumping in freezing water or visiting Stonehenge at 6am - I think about staying home and taking care of myself.
More noteworthy disappointments were the chapter titled "Midwinter" (the aforementioned Stonhenge trip) which is a strange dump of othering as the author is clearly trying, and failing, to toe the line of being respectful while at the same time othering and making fun of groups of people whose actions don't align with her own. And near the end of the book, the chapter "Cold Water" where she interviews a woman who claims to have cured her Bipolar Disorder with taking ice baths. Not just a laughable concept, but an incredibly dangerous one to put in print.
There is some substance here. The author's own journey with cold sea bathing and her introduction to saunas both were lovely stories - and I intend to find myself a sauna this winter as a result. But overall this is not the book that the blurbs, nor the title, promised.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Pregnancy, and Chronic illness