Clear your weekend, Tartlets. In fact, clear your week. Because Winter Solstice is a book you want to read slooooowly, savoring every word and turn of the page.
I discovered this 2011 novel by Rosamunde Pilcher on a list of holiday reads from Modern Mrs Darcy. It was the most recommended book by her readers, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why.
Winter Solstice starts off in a sleepy little English village of Bilby, then moves to a stately manor on the Scottish coastal town of Creagan. While the country cottages of Bilby are lovely, it’s really Creagan, with its local charms, friendly neighbors, and wild seas, that beckons you further into the story, just as it beckons main characters Elfrida and Oscar, and the motley crew that soon surrounds them.
The cast of characters in Winter Solstice spans generations, and you’re immersed in the story from various points of view, something I greatly enjoyed. Each character has a strong personality, and pretty soon you feel like you’re encamped at the Creagan manor house with them, gathered around one of the ever-burning fireplaces on a cold winter’s night.
Each person who turns up at the manor house is a little bit lost; everyone is either running away from or running toward something, whether they know it yet or not. The manor house becomes a kind of safe haven for everyone, a place filled with love and laughter, acceptance and healing, and, ultimately, hope and peace.
The majority of Winter Solstice takes place at Christmas time, but I wouldn’t necessarily call this a “Christmas book.” It is, however, a great “winter book” or “seasonal book”. Hygge vibes abound in every chapter, from delicious meals shared around a table or fireplace to the brisk Northern winds whipping along the winter beach, to the snowflakes falling thick and dense over the Scottish town, closing off roads and serendipitously stranding people at the manor house.
The first part of the novel begins in November, and it takes quite awhile to get to the Christmas-y part. However, once that begins, you’ll soon be lost in a holi-daze as Elfrida, with the help of her family and friends, manages to create an amazingly cozy and lovely holiday week for everyone in Creagan.
Ever read a book that feels perfectly aligned with your life at the moment you’re reading it? That was me with Winter Solstice. When I cracked it open last December, I’d just started prepping the house for the holidays and hosting guests for the season. Since lots of vistors, both expected and not, turn up in Winter Solstice, and I felt a happy kinship with Elfrida as we both set about planning menus and making the house cozy for the holidays.
I’m normally a speed-reader, but it took me the better part of a month to get through Winter Solstice. This is the kind of novel you want to curl up with over a long winter break, hot chocolate in hand and fluffy blanket and/or cat on lap. Much like the manor house in Creagan, Pilcher’s novel will give you an inner glow that flickers within you long after you’ve finished the story.
What are some of your favorite holiday or seasonal reads? I can easily see Winter Solstice being a book that I return to each year around this time.
Stay tuned for my book-inspired recipe: Baked Brie Bites!
I always want to go out and buy a big vase of stargazer lilies every time I read Winter Solstice. 🙂 I’m with you… I could read this book over and over again!
It’s so cozy, right?? And heart-warming and lovely! I’m ready to pack my bags and move to a remote coastal Scottish town!
Oh this sounds fantastic! I’m in the Christmasy mood already and need some cozy books to read:D
Then this one should DEFINITELY be on your list. It’s filled with all the feels of the season. I hope you love it as much as I do!