Winter by Ali Smith [Book Review]

Winter by Ali Smith is the second novel of her Seasonal Quarter, it follows Autumn, which I read in 2020. The book is set during the Christmas period, with the protagonist Sophia dipping in and out of her memories over her life. Her companions this Christmas; her sister Iris, son Art and Art’s paid-fake-girlfriend Charlotte, all contribute to this idea of an unreliable narrator that permeates this novel.

Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I’ve heard how Winter is some people’s favourite book from the collection, and also how many thought it lacked the nuance and poetry that came with Autumn. Sadly, I have to agree with the latter. The sheer attention to detail and feelings evoked with Autumn placed the book in my top five reads of 2020, but I felt this novel lacked unity, inspiration and clarity.

I found the first 25% of the book really well written as it essentially focused on only Sophia and her coping with her mental illness along with her Scrooge mentality which has become a looming child’s head in Sophia’s life. This hovering aspect of the novel, bigger even than the narrator idea, was really beautifully written and often left me uncomfortably looking up. However, as soon as this concept finished early on in the book, I thought the talent went along with it. The remaining 75% of the novel felt like a slow drag, perhaps even intentional, the same way family members feel dragged into argument and tensions during family occasions, like the book explores.

With the backdrop of a post-Brexit world and Trump as President, the theme of an unreliable narrator and protagonist worked really well, I thought. Living during this time period and in a post-modern world, it is easy to see how these lies and uncertainties that the reader and the character Art experiences affects our reading of the book.

The role of dissociation in this novel was also really striking, because through Sophia we have this rejection of the modern world, technology and the need to go back to the “good old days”, mainly referring to the rise in snowflake culture, over sensitivity and global issues becoming the problem of other countries, most notably the refugee and immigration topics. Compared to Art, who lives his life entirely online and works from home, he is unable to form a real human relationship and experiences the world through nature which he writes about on his blog. These two extremes of dissociation with the world and wanting to go back to basics accurately reflects the minds of many in this country today and indicates how in touch Smith is when it comes to interpreting and projecting the voice of modern people.

Overall, I still really liked the book, but I think it lacked something which Autumn had – clarity, poetry and elegance. Perhaps this was because it was the first book I read by her, so I was more blown away by the original style, or even perhaps because the mood is intentionally sombre because it represents the Winter season, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still felt slightly disappointed with this sequel.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/4