Winter - by Val McDermid (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In this radiant work of creative nonfiction, internationally beloved novelist Val McDermid delivers a dazzling ode to a lost world, ruminating on a single winter in her life as she journeys into the heart of the season's ever-evolving community-based traditions

Val McDermid has always had a soft spot for winter: the bitter clarity of a crisp cold day, the crunch of frost on fallen leaves, and the chance to be enveloped in big jumpers and thick socks.

In Winter, McDermid takes us on an adventure through the season, from the frosty streets of Edinburgh to the windblown Scottish coast, from Bonfire Night and Christmas to Burns Night and Up Helly Aa. Recalling in parallel memories from her own childhood--of skating over frozen lakes and carving a "neep" (rutabaga) for Halloween to being taken to see her first real Christmas tree in the town square--McDermid offers a wise and enchanting meditation on winter and its ever-changing, sometimes ephemeral, traditions.

A hygge-filled journey through winter nights, McDermid reminds us that it is a time of rest, retreat and creativity, for scribbling in notebooks and settling in beside the fire. A treat for the hunkering-down, post-holiday reading season, Winter is a charming and cozy celebration of the year's idle months from one of Scotland's best-loved writers.

Review Quotes

Praise for Val McDermid:

"Clear-eyed, vigorous, unpretentious and mesmerizing."--Seattle Times, on Forensics

"McDermid has not lost her early journalistic genius for telling a good story plainly and with passion."--Times Saturday Review (UK), on Forensics

"McDermid is at the top of her game and readers will be highly rewarded for taking this new journey at her side."--CrimeReads on Still Life

"McDermid remains unrivalled . . . brilliant."--Observer (UK) on How the Dead Speak

About the Author

Val McDermid's bestselling novels have won the Los Angeles Times Book of the Year Award, and the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger and Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding achievement. Her acclaimed Karen Pirie series has been adapted into an Edgar Award-nominated ITV/BritBox show. She is also a five-time finalist for the Edgar Award, including for the Fact Crime nominee Forensics and most recently for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award nominee Past Lying. She lives in Scotland.