Wintering

The power of rest and retreat in difficult times

By: Katherine May

Narrated by: Rebecca Lee

Brought to you by Penguin.

This is wintering. It is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and commit to healing them the best we can.

Wintering is a poignant and comforting meditation on the fallow periods of life, times when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves. Katherine May thoughtfully shows us how to come through these times with the wisdom of knowing that, like the seasons, our winters and summers are the ebb and flow of life.

A moving personal narrative interwoven with lessons from literature, mythology and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.

Ultimately, Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.

'My favourite book of the last five years' CAITLIN MORAN

'Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself' ELIZABETH GILBERT

'Absolutely beautiful' CHERYL STRAYED

© Katherine May 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critic reviews

A beautiful, gentle exploration of the dark season of life and the light of spring that eventually follows (Raynor Winn, bestselling author of The Salt Path)

A book for the soul (Caitlin Moran)

Katherine May thoughtfully examines the emotional, spiritual, and geographical reality of the cold times, the dark days, and those periods of our lives when things are neither soft nor easy. In so doing, she offers a great and humane service to her readers: she shows us that wintering cannot be avoided, but need not be feared.

Wise, radical and comforting. It's a refreshing, original way of looking at winter, both the season and the winterings that happen in all of our lives. A thought-provoking joy to read. (Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden)

We all experience periods of 'wintering' in our lives and this book shows us how to embrace the uncertainty that can come with it. A beautiful book that can be enjoyed in both winter and summer (Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking)

An elegant investigation into the consolations of nature and how it can be wonderfully restorative even on the bleakest of days

[A] sympathetic memoir ... May recounts how she attempted to embrace rather than resist the gloom and chill of winter ... she radiates sincerity and quiet self-knowledge

In this elegant memoir Katherine May finds beauty and transformation in a difficult period of her life ... an evocative ode to retreat that will appeal to fans of Deborah Levy's The Cost of Living

Wintering is the book equivalent of a perfectly timed hug you didn't know you needed, a warm blanket on a cold day ... it's exactly what the world needs right now (Nora McInerny, host of Terrible, Thanks for Asking)

A beautifully written mix of memoir and philosophy ... May offers much needed solace and comfort and a reminder that seasons eventually turn

Delightful, poetic, hopeful, uplifting

What a find. I treasure this one. This book is a very special type of magical, a gentle, wise and self-loving meander through difficult times. A fresh perspective on the cold and dark times we experience, in cycles, over and over again. Everybody winters. Everybody should read this. It’s filled with love.

Inspiring acknowledgment of reality

I loved the realism of the difficult times, the acknowledgement, the lack of sweetness.. the valuing of the human disposition .. and the positivity of trust in the cycles of life or nature or people or the self.. My only reservation was that, amid a superbly interpreted narration, the reader’s mispronunciation of words like ‘cailleach’ jarred.. there were just a few.. but they implied less than oneness with the text.

Extraordinary

What an amazing book! Incredibly deep and soothing, full of insight. A true remedy for all of us.

Beautifully written and narrated with such feeling.

Throughly enjoyed listening to the story and I shall certainly enjoy listening to once again.

Chicken soup for COVID-19

I’ve been on Audible for about five years and never bothered with a review, but Catherine deserves this. This book is astonishingly good and incredibly timely. I was irritated in the beginning looking for a bunch of bullet points on the value of winter… Instead what I got was a beautifully written and superbly well read Story...truly connecting me back to the essence of living. Thank you to all involved in this beautiful production.