A Spell of Winter

About This Project

Helen Dunmore’s award winning novel, A Spell of Winter, is one of my favourite books by the author. The story begins at the turn of the century and follows the relationship of a brother and sister who are left abandoned by their mother and raised together in a country mansion. The two main characters have a deep and passionate relationship that will eventually destroy them. The Sunday Times review quite rightly refers to the book as a ‘gripping read with incredible emotional intensity.’ If you do read the book be prepared to be shocked and upset. However it is the kind of novel that you get drawn into- I really did feel as if I had been transported back to a lost, unreachable world- a world moving ferociously and violently towards a new century. A Spell of Winter is a haunting novel that never quite leaves you. Towards the end of the novel, the sister Catherine, reflects on the loss of her brother in the Great War.