Climbing Mount TBR: The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clark

Review by Ed O.

Welcome back to Climbing Mount TBR where I, your humble Book Kaiju, struggle to climb to the top of my to read pile one book at a time.  This time we’re looking at The Wood at Midwinter, the newest work by Susanna Clarke.  I want to give a special thanks to the publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing, who gave us here at “Kaiju & Gnome” an eARC in return for an honest review.

I jumped at the chance to once again read Clarke’s magical prose.  Her previous book, Piranesi, is on my short list of favorite fantasy novels ever and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is fantastic.  There is a magic to her prose that drags you in and doesn’t let go.

The Wood at Midwinter is set in the same world as Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but no prior knowledge is required.  So don’t let that be a barrier to stop you from reading it.  It’s just a fun fairy tale set in the world of a larger story.

So what’s it about?

Well, there is this girl, Merowdis Scot, and she’s rather… odd.  She loves the woods, even in the dead of winter.  Her best friends are her dogs and a pig, that she talks to…and they talk back.  There is a possible marriage in her future that she doesn’t want, but she wouldn’t mind having a kid, in a Virgin Mary kind of way.  Basically, she’s a saint in the making. 

The story is simply her walking through the woods and talking to her pets.  Then talking to a fox.  Finally, talking to the trees themselves (it’s that kind of story).  She receives a vision of her future and then the story ends.

Yep, that's it.  At first I thought maybe I received only a partial copy, but nope, the story is only sixty pages long.  It’s not really a novella, more of a short story.  An illustrated short story, so it’s more of a Golden Book for adults.  The illustrations are beautiful and make the story come alive.

Should you read it?  Yes, it’s a gorgeous short story with great illustrations.  The prose reminds me more of Piranesi than Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. There is this pervasive sense of loneliness and isolation that Merowdis has.  No one really understands her, not her family and not even her pets.  The setting of a quiet woods at wintertime helps set that mood.

Once again Susanna Clarke captures the feel of magic.  Things don’t make sense, but that confusion is amazing.  We are simply jumping into a story that is already underway, we do not see the beginning nor the ending, simply a moment in time.

Read this like a picture book.  A quick read that you can read again and again.  Every time you’ll find something new.  A bit of art will stand out that you never saw before.  Some word play will finally make sense.  You’ll find some new wonder to marvel at.

That's another book off the TBR pile.  Only… 459 to go!