The Winter That Made Us by Kate Field #Book #Review #BlogTour @rararesources @katehaswords

The Winter That Made Us by Kate Field

Published by Accent Press

Publication Date: 20th September 2018

284 pages

Welcome to today's stop on the blog tour for Kate Field's novel The Winter That Made Us. My thanks to Rachel Gilbey for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book which has so much more to it than I expected. 

Book Description:

When Tess finds herself unexpectedly alone and back in Ribblemill, the childhood village she thought she’d escaped, she’s sure she can survive a temporary stay. She’s spent a lifetime making the best of things, hasn’t she?

Determined to throw herself into village life, Tess starts a choir and gathers a team of volunteers to restore the walled garden at Ramblings, the local stately home. Everything could be perfect, if she weren’t sharing a cottage and a cat with a man whose manner is more prickly than the nettles she’s removing…

As winter approaches, Tess finds herself putting down her own roots as fast as she’s pulling them up in the garden. But the ghosts of the past hover close by, and Tess must face them if she’s to discover whether home is where her heart has been all along.

My Review:

There aren't many books which have me reaching for a tissue to wipe my eyes, but this one had me in a very public display of tears at my local library where I had called in to spend a couple of hours relaxing and catching up with my reading.  Tess and Noah's personal journeys will hit you right in your emotional feels, smiling and crying in rapid succession.

Both Tess Bailey and Noah Thornton are born Ribblemillers, however Tess moved away to pursue a high flying career as a solicitor with husband Tim after their fairytale wedding in the local church.  Her circumstances change and she finds herself returning to her childhood home for the time being as she takes a sabbatical from her job. Facts about the silent, brooding Noah are slower to be disclosed but we know something bad happened to him to make him the way he is.  The two of them find themselves thrown together purely by coincidence as they both seek accommodation in the village and are offered the same property. They reluctantly agree to house share and this is where they each start to take a look at themselves and ask whether they are being honest with themselves.

Tess throws herself into as many local activity groups as she can in order to keep busy and when she stumbles across Noah's plan to restore the walled garden at the nearby manor house she gets the whole community involved in helping with the project. Bit by bit the unlikely pair start to peel away the layers of each other's veneer which they have developed in order to deal with the events life has thrown their way, and find that despite being such apparent opposites they actually have more in common than they would ever have imagined. Through heartbreaking events and the introduction of Morag, a delightful little ball of feline fluff, they help each other confront their demons and face up to some harsh home-truths.

I didn't expect there to be so many facets to this story; the book deals with some deeper issues of trauma, loss and grief very tactfully.  Tess's lovely, gentle parents have issues of their own, the consequences of which have had a huge impact on Tess and how she has grown up always striving to be perfect.  Noah's down to earth bluntness and the strength of the support his family have always given him are in total contrast to Tess's cautious approach to life and the collision of the two families makes for an entertaining yet emotional read.

This is probably the book which has surprised me most out of all the books I have read this year. It's not the first to have had me blubbing, but it is the one I least expected to.  That said, it's not a slush-fest; just a nicely written journey of people finding out how to be honest with themselves and each other. We only get one life, and the message here is to go out there and grab it with both hands doing what makes you happy.

Thank you Kate for making me cry! I loved every page.

About the Author:

Kate Field lives in Lancashire with her husband, daughter and cat. Her debut novel, The Magic of Ramblings, won the Romantic Novelists' Association Joan Hessayon Award for new writers.

Kate can be contacted on Twitter @katehaswords or through her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KateFieldAuthor/.