Historical Fiction · MelancholicCathy and her brother Rob grow up on a rural estate with their grandfather, after their parents have gone
A Spell of Winter
Two children are raised on a country estate after their parents leave their lives
Cathy and her older brother Rob grow up on a rural estate in early twentieth-century England without their parents. Their mother has gone to southern Europe and their father is in a sanatorium, so they live with their grandfather and are raised largely by the servant Kate, while they resent their governess, Miss Gallagher. Their wealthy older neighbor, Mr Bullivant, is also part of their world. Viking published it in March 1995, and in 1996 it became the first winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction.
More about this book
Who
Cathy, her older brother Rob, their servant Kate, their governess Miss Gallagher, their grandfather and a neighbor, Mr Bullivant.
World
A rural estate in England in the early twentieth century, around the First World War.
What makes it different
It was the first book to win the Orange Prize for Fiction, the prize now called the Women's Prize for Fiction.
Feel
Slow, atmospheric and a little dark.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- A Spell of WinterWikipedia