West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in the present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea’s diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother’s bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara’s fate, she discovers that she’s not the only person who’s desperately looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
Books Review Blog: The Winter People
Sarah’s Auntie had a big secret that she shared with her. That secret made it possible to raise the dead, a sleeper, and with that secret came repercussions. The year was 1908 in West Hall, Vermont, the times were rough, and a tragedy befalls Sarah and her husband, Martin. We follow the fallout of this tragedy as Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter People tells a tale that transcends time and how a horrific event transpires through time into the present.
We follow Sarah, Auntie, Martin, and Gertie in 1908, whose stories are interspersed with Ruthie, Fawn, Alice, and Katherine in the present. I found myself to be more immersed in the story that took place in the earlier part of the century. There was a desolate atmosphere that McMahon depicted with great magnitude that leaped off the pages and immersed me into that world. I felt the coldness of the woods around The Devil’s Hand, felt the eeriness of the darkness and the shadows that lurked within. It is here, in this era, where the book really shined in its creepiness. There was a subtle terror that McMahon perfected in sending chills up my spine. With each turn, if the page I yearned for more – a page-turner without a doubt.
The events that took place in the present were also a delight to read because they added a splendid air of mystery of how the separate time frames would connect. A mystery is poised as Ruthie has strange dreams, her and Fawn’s mother unexpectedly goes missing, and Katherine goes to West Falls to uncover why her late husband drove three hours to be there. It seems like a lot is going on, but McMahon is able to bring all of these facets together almost seamlessly.
There were a few things in the novel’s conclusion that felt a bit rushed, convenient, and, dare I say it, even a bit predictable. Still, it was not enough to falter the entirety of the narrative. I truly love this novel and recommend giving this one a read.