Mind of Winter - by Laura Kasischke (Paperback)

About the Book

Laura Kasischke, the critically acclaimed and nationally bestselling poet and author of The Raising, returns Mind of Winter, a dark and chilling thriller that combines domestic drama with elements of psychological suspense and horror--an addictive tale of denial and guilt that is part Joyce Carol Oates and part Chris Bohjalian.

On a snowy Christmas morning, Holly Judge awakens with the fragments of a nightmare floating on the edge of her consciousness. Something followed them from Russia. Thirteen years ago, she and her husband Eric adopted baby Tatty, their pretty, black-haired Rapunzel, from the Pokrovka Orphanage #2. Now, at fifteen, Tatiana is more beautiful than ever--and disturbingly erratic.

As a blizzard rages outside, Holly and Tatiana are alone. With each passing hour, Tatiana's mood darkens, and her behavior becomes increasingly frightening . . . until Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter.

Book Synopsis

"Leave-the-lights-on-tonight frightening, with a quiet edge of horror that is much more effective than gore." -- NPR

From Laura Kasischke, the critically acclaimed and nationally bestselling poet and author of The Raising, comes a dark and chilling thriller that combines domestic drama with elements of psychological suspense and horror--an addictive tale of denial and guilt that is part Joyce Carol Oates and part Chris Bohjalian.

On a snowy Christmas morning, Holly Judge awakens with the fragments of a nightmare floating on the edge of her consciousness. Something followed them from Russia. Thirteen years ago, she and her husband Eric adopted baby Tatty, their pretty, black-haired Rapunzel, from the Pokrovka Orphanage #2. Now, at fifteen, Tatiana is more beautiful than ever--and disturbingly erratic.

As a blizzard rages outside, Holly and Tatiana are alone. With each passing hour, Tatiana's mood darkens, and her behavior becomes increasingly frightening . . . until Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter.

From the Back Cover

Something had followed them from Russia.

It was thirteen years ago that Holly and her husband, Eric, went to Siberia to adopt the sweet, dark-haired child they wanted so desperately. How they laughed at the nurses of Pokrovka Orphanage #2, with their garlic and superstitions, and ignored their insistent warnings. After all, their fairy princess Tatiana--Baby Tatty--was perfect.

As the snow falls, enveloping the world in its white silence, Holly senses that something is not right, and has never been right in the years since they brought their daughter home. She and Tatiana are alone. Eric is stuck on the roads, and none of the other guests for Christmas dinner will be able to make it through the snow. With each passing hour, the blizzard rages and Tatiana's mood darkens, her behavior becoming increasingly disturbing . . . until, in every mother's worst nightmare, Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter.

Review Quotes

"It is not enough to say that Kasischke's language is 'poetic' . . . [T]he language catapults us into another plane of existence, one of facade and reflection." -- New York Times Book Review

"Leave-the-lights-on-tonight frightening, with a quiet edge of horror that is much more effective than gore." -- NPR

"Shocking." -- Vogue.com

"A terrifying brew of family drama and horror. . . . The awesome ending doesn't disappoint." -- Entertainment Weekly

"If I could stand on a mountaintop and shout over the land, I would do it now: This book is magnificent! It's a gripping psychological thriller, at once both charmingly domestic and flat-out terrifying. Laura Kasischke writes so well that she leaves me inspired and very, very jealous." -- Elin Hilderbrand, author of Beautiful Day

"MIND OF WINTER is a tightly coiled story of suffocating love and undeniable horror. Its grip is remarkably chilling, masterfully poetic, and psychologically unrelenting." -- Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street

"Thought-provoking and chilling, MIND OF WINTER will have you looking over your shoulder as you tear through the pages to the shocking and heartbreaking conclusion. It will leave you questioning not only what is real, but also what it means to be a good mother." -- Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia

"Impossible to put down." -- BookPage

"An unknown horror hovers just out of reach in this gripping psychological thriller...Kasischke skillfully mixes an insightful look at a damaged woman with a twisty plot that builds to a shocking ending." -- Publishers Weekly

"A nightmare-inducing domestic mystery...Kasischke knows that what lurks hidden in the shadows is scarier than any monster we can see. She also knows that, scared as we may be, we can't resist a peek." -- Boston Globe

"As a reader, you know that something horrible is going to be revealed--something awful and inevitable. And, when you finally force yourself to turn that last page, it will not be a scream that gets caught in your throat, but a gut-punching, heart-wrenching sob. A book that will haunt you for days and long, long nights after reading." -- Booklist (starred review)

"A genuinely disturbing tale, each layer perfectly crafted, stacked together like a set of Russian nesting dolls, the tiniest one at the center the horrific secret that everything else depends upon....Both a masterwork of evocative prose and a bone-chilling page-turner." -- Jennifer McMahon, New York Times bestselling author of The Winter People