DISCUSSION THREAD - "Winter Solstice"

[Enfys]

Daisy, I thought the timing a bit strange too, but Elfrida and Oscar had become great friends in the time she had lived in the village so maybe it was natural he should turn to her after the car crash. I wish Francesca had survived, that was sad but then the whole storyline would probably have been completely different. I'm glad you enjoyed it, it's my annual Christmas read.

[Clover]

I quite liked this book as it was an easy read.
Two points that annoyed me a bit were firstly after reading the synopsis which focussed on the house party it seemed too long to get to that part. I know the characters had to be introduced and their backgrounds explained but all the time I was waiting for what I felt was the "real" story to begin.This is why I dislike trailers on TV and the "coming up next " scenario.
Secondly I felt the characters were rather stereotypical and the ending was too contrived with everything falling conveniently into place. No one had to compromise.
I don't think I 'll be rushing to read anything else by RP though if there was nothing else on offer I would give her another chance.

[Daisy]

Enfys - At the beginning when Elfrida moved into Oscar's village I thought the plot might go a different way and Elfrida and Oscar would have had an affair -they were clearly very attracted to each other. I could see some interesting dilemmas with that scenario! However, RP had different ideas, which was fine. It's definitely best read in the run up to Christmas - there's that sense of moving in time towards a specific point, which I liked.

Clover I think you make a good point - there was an awful lot of 'scene setting', but maybe we were somewhat mislead by the synopsis. I hadn't really thought about that before, but it's true - a short synopsis places emphasis on one aspect of a book and you keep waiting for that scenario to happen. Perhaps it's to make us keep reading! Although I really enjoyed it, I don't think it's the bestRP I have ever read.

I also spent a lot of time wondering when Elfrida's cousin in Cornwall would reappear (but he didn't). It was quite a sizeable line in the story, and seemed a bit excessive if it was just to remove Elfrida from the village at the time of the car crash.

I forgot to say earlier - I did love Horace. He was so accommodating and loveable.


Looking at what I've just written, I really enjoyed it while I was reading it (despite the lack of roaring fire, coffee and cake!) but looking back every scene RP painted in Scotland seemed dark, cold and a bit cheerless. Did anyone else think that?

[Gemini]

I read this for the second time, having read it last December when Enfys first suggested it.
Amazing when reading it again only a year later I had forgotten that Francesca dies, so was shocked and upset a second time!
I did enjoy the book, and have read others by the author.
I do agree that The Scottish scenes seems cold and cheerless Daisy.

I was glad when Elfrida and Oscar got together. I liked them both. Both deserved happiness. It would seem far too soon for Oscar to move on in normal circumstances, but it seemed that the marriage was at far from happy stage, so that sort of changes things I feel.

A good pre Christmas read, thank you for suggesting it

[Enfys]

I've never been to Scotland in December but I would imagine it would seem pretty cold and dismal, all that grey stone and snow. But it's the people that bring the cheer and brightness, looks what happens when they take over the Estate House and throw their party, would liked to have been there. I enjoyed the ending, yes it was contrived but I'm still glad they were all happy at the end. Would like to revisit to see what happens in, say, 5 years or so.