The Land in Winter
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
The Land in Winter
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Andrew Miller
-
By:
-
Andrew Miller
About this listen
December 1962, the West Country.
In the darkness of an old asylum, a young man unscrews the lid from a bottle of sleeping pills. In the nearby village, two couples begin their day. Local doctor, Eric Parry, mulling secrets, sets out on his rounds, while his pregnant wife sleeps on in the warmth of their cottage.
Across the field, in a farmhouse impossible to heat, funny, troubled Rita Simmons is also asleep, her head full of images of a past life her husband prefers to ignore. He's been up for hours, tending to the needs of the small dairy farm he bought, a place where he hoped to create a new version of himself, a project that's already faltering.
There is affection - if not always love - in both homes: these are marriages that still hold some promise. But when the ordinary cold of an English December gives way to violent blizzards - a true winter, the harshest in living memory - the two couples find their lives beginning to unravel.
Where do you hide when you can't leave home? And where, in a frozen world, could you run to?
Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Land in Winter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- j. B.
- 28-11-24
A beautiful book, perfect for winter
A beautifully and gently read story which I found thought provoking and compelling. The lives of the characters were skilfully interwoven and linked by the place and time in which they all lived.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah
- 17-12-24
The shifting narrative
A really atmospheric listen - the tone of the narrator was wonderful: calm and even. The four key characters were revealed and developed slowly. A beautifully written novel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ruthie H
- 24-11-24
Descriptions of a land gripped by winter.
Excellent characterisations. A class system outdated now. Nostalgic in its description of life in the early sixties.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rosalind Goddard
- 27-11-24
Astonishing and deeply affecting
Beautifully written and compelling - a masterclass in storytelling, character and language. I was utterly engrossed by this novel and loved the narration by the author which added so much to the experience of listening. Now to buy the novel to pore over the genius of the imagery and story a second time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- holly bird
- 05-12-24
heavy with snow and beautiful
I have loved all Andrew Miller's books. This one in particular is very touching. The land heavy with snow, two women heavy with child, a story of people striving for happiness during an exceptionally cold long winter. by the time the thaw comes all their lives will have changed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr C.
- 15-12-24
A powerful evocation of an extraordinary winter.
I recall this winter at the beginning of New Year 1963; it lasted for three months during which it seemed like it would never end. The novel creates the amazing effect of snow, its beauty, but also the problems it created for human beings, trying to get on with their lives. The story builds in intensity and you know the lives of the characters will never be the same again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- MEB
- 07-12-24
Disappointingly dull
This book is very well-written, as you’d expect from Andrew Miller, but I found the narrative content relentlessly tedious. The narration is also somewhat monotone (which is perhaps appropriate).
The focus is on setting and meticulously detailed accounts of the everyday life of the four central characters and yet, by the end of the book, I felt as emotionally disengaged from them as they seemed to be from one another.
Some wider elements are occasionally shoehorned in – references to Naziism, mental health issues, back-street abortions, etc - suggesting added dimensions to the book that just aren’t there.
I have enjoyed most of Miller’s previous novels, but this was just too dull for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!