A Cold Season is the searing debut novel from Australian author Matthew Hooper. It is a heart-rending story of loss and grief set during a freezing post WWI winter in a small house in the foothills of Mt Kosciusko.
As they wait for Sam and Owens to return Beth's mother Grace, convinced they will never return, finds solace in the local outlaw, Wallace.
Her burden of grief turns to anger and she blocks out Beth's brother Sasha and lashes out at Beth.
Matthew Hooper never lets the reader forget how bitterly cold and harsh the climate is.
"I felt colder, like my clothes was not working and the mountain's cold was right inside me, making me shiver and shake and rub my knees."
The use of prose that are both lyrical and illiterate portray an uneducated narrator as Beth tells the story in her own words.
"But mostly we was thinking about Owens and Sam, ........ and we was both filled to the brim with upset and worry what sat in our stomachs like heavy stones submerged in dark sorrow-water what filled us up."
A Cold Season is a deeply felt story about how grief is managed in different ways. It is a story filled with sorrow and love and hate, and a sadness that is all consuming.
I'd love to see it on the big screen one day.
My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If I could give it more stars I would!
Publisher: Transit Lounge
Publication date: 1st October 2024
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 224
RRP: AU$32.99 (paperback)
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Quikmark Media
I enjoyed this book too it was sad I felt and very easy too read
ReplyDeleteI think this would be fabulous as a movie.
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