Wintering
The life-changing Sunday Times bestseller
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4.0 • 6 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
THE NO. 1 BESTSELLING, LIFE-CHANGING PHENOMENON – SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'A beautiful, gentle exploration of the dark season of life and the light of spring that eventually follows' RAYNOR WINN
'My favourite book of the last five years' CAITLIN MORAN
Wintering is a poignant and comforting meditation on the fallow periods of life, times when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves. Katherine May thoughtfully shows us how to come through these times with the wisdom of knowing that, like the seasons, our winters and summers are the ebb and flow of life.
A moving personal narrative interwoven with lessons from literature, mythology and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.
Ultimately, Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.
'Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself' ELIZABETH GILBERT
'Absolutely beautiful' CHERYL STRAYED
Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, November 2024
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this elegant memoir, journalist May (Burning Out) finds beauty and transformation in a difficult period of her life. In the span of six months, May's husband falls ill with acute appendicitis; her six-year-old son, who is bullied and suffers from anxiety, stops going to school; and she leaves her job as a university lecturer after suffering severe stomach pains from malabsorption. Though May centers her thoughts on these harrowing events, she is more interested in reflecting on the internal process they set into motion (what May calls "wintering,") and embraces the harshness of life as part of the cycle of nature: "When everything is broken, everything is also up for grabs. That's the gift of winter: it's irresistible. Change will happen in its wake, whether we like it or not." She traces events that transpire between September and March as she weathers winter through a mix of traditions winter solstice at Stonehenge, Finnish saunas, and polar bear plunges that reaffirm her purpose and see her through to the next phase of her life: "Mine is a personal animism, hushed by my conscious brain, nurtured by my unconscious." May's evocative ode to retreat will appeal to fans of Deborah Levy's The Cost of Living.
