Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 31, 2017
Genre: Historical, Literary Fiction
Pages: 340
Source: Finished Copy from Publisher
Goodreads Description
In the Midst of Winter begins with a minor traffic accident—which becomes the catalyst for an unexpected and moving love story between two people who thought they were deep into the winter of their lives. Richard Bowmaster—a 60-year-old human rights scholar—hits the car of Evelyn Ortega—a young, undocumented immigrant from Guatemala—in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn. What at first seems just a small inconvenience takes an unforeseen and far more serious turn when Evelyn turns up at the professor’s house seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant Lucia Maraz—a 62-year-old lecturer from Chile—for her advice. These three very different people are brought together in a mesmerizing story that moves from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil, sparking the beginning of a long overdue love story between Richard and Lucia.
Exploring the timely issues of human rights and the plight of immigrants and refugees, the book recalls Allende’s landmark novel The House of the Spirits in the way it embraces the cause of “humanity, and it does so with passion, humor, and wisdom that transcend politics” (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post). In the Midst of Winter will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
My Thoughts
A goal of mine in 2017 was to try books that are outside of the genres I typically pick up, which really encouraged me to give this book a try. In The Midst of Winter follows three very different people that are brought together due to unlikely circumstances. It takes place over multiple timelines and the main plot follows Richard Bowmaster, Lucia Maraz, and Evelyn Ortega in present day New York. Richard hits Evelyn's car in the middle of a snowstorm. After realizing thing are more serious than they Eem at first Evelyn shows up at Richard's house. Not knowing what to do Richard enlists the help of his neighbor/colleague Lucia and the story between these characters takes off from there.
My favorite thing about this novel was going into the past and learning about where each character came from and how they got to where they currently are. Each character had such a heart breaking story. I loved being able to follow their stories and see how they were able to overcome so much. I also really loved that I learned some things while reading. I had to take a step back and really think about each event in the character's lives and the consequences of those events. I would like to do some research to learn more of the basis where each character's story came from.
While I did enjoy the story I don't think I read this at the right time in my life. It took a lot out of me to get through but I felt like I wasn't retaining a lot of the information. I ended up switching over to the audiobook and once I did I felt like I was able to become completely immersed in the story and really enjoy it. However, I wasn't able to personally connect with any of the characters. Once again, the background of the characters as well as the mystery/thriller component was the main source of my enjoyment. In The Midst of Winter is a book I would like to revisit in the future! For now, it was an entertaining look on what it means to be human and how that experience is affected by different circumstances and experiences.
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