This novel was set in the West Country, during the big winter freeze of 1962/63. The main protagonists being two, young, but 'unhappy' married couples, from different backgrounds and social classes. They come together, clashing and colliding, revealing their flawed characters and intimate dramas, as they try to navigate their new lives in rural England during this brief period of winter hardship. 

There were mixed views about this book; some of the group found it engaging and an interesting story about post-war Britain during the 1960s, others found it somewhat depressing and unrelentingly bleak. Although the images of life at that particular moment in time, under snow and with the various privations and hardships, resonated with the group who could all recall that exact time in their own lives 64 years ago. (Quelle Horreur!)

Although we agreed that Andrew Miller is a successful, skilled and varied writer, it was pointed out that this is a book best appreciated when the reader is in a 'good space'. It is not an uplifting novel, although the various aspects of social, economic and cultural life at that time are captured well, warts and all.