Book seven of my advent calendar is again a book I don’t own. It’s called A Cold Season and is by Alison Littlewood, an author of whom I was not previously aware. It seems to be about a woman who finds an isolated village in which to bring up her son after the death of her husband but who finds that the locals aren’t necessarily friendly and that her son is hostile. Then they get cut off by snow…. It is set around Saddleworth Moor in the Pennines which is an area I am reasonably familiar with and which certainly experiences problems with snow. It is nice to read a book set pretty near to home.
The author’s biography says that she writes horror novels. I don’t like horror novels and I asked them to be excluded from the calendar but you can’t actually tell from the blurb on the back and a quick look at the text whether or not this is horror or just a psychological thriller so it’s certainly not the fault of the person who picked out and packed up my calendar books. If it’s horror I will find out soon enough after I start reading and abandon it but these definitions can be fuzzy and I may enjoy this as a suspense novel. The book was a Richard and Judy pick which seems to imply that it’s not too extreme but the reviews on Amazon seem to confirm my fear that it may be a horror novel – it is frequently described as “chilling”.
So, I am a bit dubious about this novel which may or may not be something I would or wouldn’t read but I will give it a go. The paperback is in very good condition.
Anne Is Reading 