BOOK REVIEW: A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín

A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín is another example of his beautiful writing about loss. In this novella, he follows a young man from the mountains of the Catalan Pyrenees who returns to his family after 2 years of compulsory military service. Although Miquel would love to settle back into the life he’d left, it’s impossible. For one thing, his younger brother will be leaving in a week for his service. And more, he finds his mother changed. It doesn’t take long for Miquel to realize she is drinking heavily. Miquel has no idea how to respond to this. When his father tries denying her access to alcohol, she leaves, sneaking away while Miquel and his father are working about the farm.

This desertion occurs as a blizzard descends. They learn, from neighbors who saw her walking away, that she took a path that would lead back to her natal village. They set out to find her, but too late. The cold, the snow, and the treacherous terrain make it impossible for her to have survived, and impossible for Miquel, his father, and others from their village to find her body until the spring thaw.

It’s a quiet story that focuses on Miquel’s loss and disillusionment, his guilt, and his frustration with his father. His father begins to move on, while Miquel cannot, not until his mother is found.

I’m continuing my march through Colm Tóibín’s fiction, and haven’t been disappointed yet!