The Land in Winter - Andrew Miller

Princetown, Dartmoor, 1963

 The Big Freeze! Winter of 1962/1963. Britain's most brutal, intensive, and lengthy winter since the 19th century! That's the setting for this novel. The four main characters form two couples, both wives pregnant, and neither couple convinced about their respective partners, on whether love will see it through. Rita, with a somewhat coloured past for the 1960s, is not ideal as a farmer's wife, when her husband is hardly a farmer - more, a young man rebelling his father, and of a past that he is not fully aware of. The GP, Eric, is probably the least likable character here, and is clearly horrid to his wife, even on a normal day. It is in this background that the four people try to fight their inner demons, attempt to make their lives work, and try to see through a most difficult winter. How do the two couples come out of the winter? This novel is a like a close examination of the cross-currents of the four characters. All four characters face danger due to the indecisiveness which lead them there. It could be an attempt at a reconciliation of their families, where  Bill finds his sibling an alcoholic, and possibly still closeted since it was the early 60s. It could be that Rita has a longing for the bright lights and long nights, a far cry from the solitude of the farm. She has a difficult time to keep the demons from the past away. It takes her on a trip with dangerous consequences. The GP discovers the hard way that secrets are difficult to be kept is rural Western Britain, and although the damages to his  car could be fixed, his character in those parts are ruined - so much so we find him contemplating a getaway to become a hero. Probably Irene is the most everyday character we find here, and maybe her cosmopolitan back ground makes her decisions somewhat measured - until the weather makes measurement a farce. 

Britain is still recovering from WWII, and those with deep scars are still fighting their battles (i.e. Rita's father, Bill's father, and even the inexperienced Eric). It is in this background that the author has selected a close examination of the four lives who are the core characters in this book. The book moves at a pace in synchronicity with that of the long winter. The longing in the hearts of those who find  very little to do, who are out of place, who are struggling amateurs, and in hot water due to their own designs are examined in just sufficient detail to portray the restless mix - but usually with an open ended flow, which gives the impression that just like the helicopter that carries our four characters from the snow covered farm at the end, we too are taken away from the novel with an idea about their possible futures, which could be still undecided.

So far this year I've read four books from the Booker long list, with three inside the short list. Personally if I had my way, I'd include Sea Scraper over this in the short list.

Rating: ***1/2

Photo credits: Princetown, Dartmoor, 1963 ( Daily Herald Archives)