{"id":105,"date":"2017-11-20T21:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T21:50:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-06T14:17:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T03:17:59","slug":"winter-by-christopher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/winter-by-christopher\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter by Christopher Nicholson, UK, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This beautifully written novel about a few weeks in the life of the author Thomas Hardy is a work of fiction based on fact. The story itself concerns Hardy, his second wife, Florence, and an amateur actress, Gertrude Bugler; the background is Dorset; and the season is winter. The style itself is reminiscent of Hardy’s own books.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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During a cold, bleak winter in the mid-twenties, Hardy, eighty-four, is coming to terms with his approaching death; Florence, almost forty years younger, is wallowing in a sea of neurotic self-pity; while Gertrude, twenty-six, happily married with a small baby, is looking forward to playing the leading role in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>London production of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Tess <\/i>o<\/i>f <\/i>t<\/i>he <\/i>D<\/i>‘Urbervilles<\/i>.<\/i>The <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>construction of the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>book moves between the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>thoughts<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>, dreams and anxieties of each of the<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>se<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>three characters – Hardy (in the third person) and Florence and Gertrude (in the first person). <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Hardy<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>is captivated by Gertrude, who is a flawless representation of the character of Tess as he has always imagined her. He <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>may regret <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the age difference<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>but <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>he <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>c<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>ompletely accepts <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Shelley’s theory of the ideal woman<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> and how, during one’s life, this woman can <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>reappear in numerous guises.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Hardy is not necessarily in love with the physical Gertrude but more with the essence of the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>girl<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>– an essence that he has experienced many times (if sometimes fleetingly)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Florence, however, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>is too <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>focused on her wasted and miserable life <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>to even begin to understand her husband’s fascination. Instead she complains about trees and cold and interminable damp <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>and instigates the tragic climax of the story.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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This is a wonderful book and, especially for fans of Thomas Hardy, is a definite must-read.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Photo of Hardy and Florence from The New York Times.<\/span><\/div>\n
Photo of Christopher Nicholson from Amazon UK <\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This beautifully written novel about a few weeks in the life of the author Thomas Hardy is a work of fiction based on fact. The story itself concerns Hardy, his second wife, Florence, and an amateur actress, Gertrude Bugler; the background is Dorset; and the season is winter. The style itself … <\/p>\n

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