The notification of a patient’s suicide at the asylum unnerves Dr. Eric Parry, the unsettled feeling only exacerbated when he is informed that the individual overdosed on pills he prescribed. There is an insinuation of negligence in the questions posed by the authorities. Parry serves as a General Practitioner in a nearby English village and is generally well regarded. While he takes pride in his professional life, his personal life doesn’t quite measure up. Despite being married to Irene, Eric has been carrying on an affair with Alison.

"Andrew Miller has written a deep and probing character study of two pairs of spouses facing uncertain futures. It is a first-rate read that deserves all the accolades it has received."

Irene is a pregnant housewife who pines for a life outside of the home. While she is steadfastly devoted to her husband, she can sense the emotional gap developing between them, even as she carries their child. Most of her time is spent in the house and cut off from socializing with others, until the day that her neighbor, Rita Simmons, comes to visit. While Irene enjoys the company of another woman, who also happens to be pregnant, Eric disdains the farmer’s wife. In her friendship with Rita, Irene finds someone who shows her how the other half lives.

Rita resides on a farm with her husband, Bill. While Rita possesses an affable manner, she has been haunted by strange voices over the years. She worries that she might be headed for a fate similar to her father’s: confinement in an asylum. Rita also ponders if the inescapable voices are her penance for past sins. While she copes with pregnancy and struggles with her demons, Bill is a farmer with a vision. He wants to utilize his farmland to raise profitable cattle. However, his dream comes with a price tag as cattle are not cheap, and he must approach the local bank for a sizable loan to jumpstart his plan.

As 1962 concludes and a new year dawns, Eric has reached a crossroads in his extramarital liaison and believes that a clean break and confession will bode well for the future. However, his hubris proves to be his undoing once Irene finds out about the affair. The cold snap isn’t the only thing freezing the Parry household in the wake of Eric’s transgressions. Meanwhile, Bill learns that his cattle plan can’t be solely financed by the bank, and he will need to approach his estranged father for assistance in assuring his future. Rita is enthusiastic about Bill’s prospects but dreads being alone with the taunting voices.

THE LAND IN WINTER is a transfixing and dramatic period piece that explores the lives of two disparate couples in England. The Parrys reflect a marriage on the brink: the loving and dutiful wife married to a condescending and unfaithful husband. The deterioration of their relationship is brilliantly and painfully illustrated with dinners filled with the weight of heavy silence or conversations dominated by withering criticism. Each character (Eric, Irene, Rita and Bill) has been shaped by his or her family and a desire not to live in a similar fashion.

Andrew Miller has written a deep and probing character study of two pairs of spouses facing uncertain futures. It is a first-rate read that deserves all the accolades it has received.