The Weight of Winter

This is the third Cathie Pelletier novel that I've read, and I have to say that they keep getting better. Set in the fictitious logging town of Mattagash, in Maine's northern Aroostook County, where the river creates a natural boundary between the United States and Canada, The Weight of Winter continues the stories of the families that we were introduced to in The Funeral Makers, published in 1986, and Once Upon a Time in the Banks, published in 1989. Approximately thirty years have gone by since Pelletier first brought these people into our lives and, while some have died, they are represented here by a new generation, and others, who we met first in The Funeral Makers, are still among the living, although I must warn you that not everyone survives to the end of the novel. When I list the authors I admire, I realize that nearly all of them are men, yet Cathie Pelletier ranks high on the list. Whether she is telling the story from the perspectives of a 12-year-old boy, a 31-year-old alcoholic, or a 107-year-old woman languishing away in a nursing home, her characters are amazingly believable. It is in this quality, above all others, that Pelletier stands out as one of the best novelists I have read. We first came to know Amy Joy Lawler when she was first entering high school as a freshman, in The Funeral Makers. She was not long out of high school in Once Upon a Time on the Banks, and she is now a 45-year-old single woman, taking care of her aging mother, Sicily, who is every bit as feisty as she had been thirty years prior. Pike Gifford, Jr. was a newborn, if he was even named in the first novel, set in the late 1950s, but appears as "Little Pee" in the second, which takes place about ten years later. Now he represents the ne'er do well Gifford family as Pike Gifford, a 31-year-old alcoholic who beats his wife and abuses his children. Despite the fact that he is a distinctly unlikeable man, the author tells his story in a way that permits the reader to see him as a human being, and even like him just a little bit, sometimes. Any love that the reader might have developed for Pike was begrudging to begin with, and lessened considerably by the fate of his eldest son, Conrad, one of those who does not survive the end of the novel. While wildly funny at time, The Weight of Winter is a much darker and even more compelling novel than was the first book in the series, The Funeral Makers. The Mattagash that Pelletier writes of was a hard place to live, and the reader is left feeling disturbed yet nostalgic all at the same time. Having used the word, I immediately began searching my memory for a better word, as I didn't know that I could reasonably say that I felt nostalgic for a place where I've never lived. Being a fictional town, no one has lived in Mattagash, of course, but my assumption is that her stories are at least loosely based on Allagash, Maine, in northern Aroostook County, where the author was born. I've been to Allagash, although tha

The characters of Matagash, Maine are a colorful lot, dreading the long, oppressive winter ahead. Wonderfully written with humor, yet extremely hard-hitting on the subject of spousal abuse and its effect on children. Mothers: take care of your children, even if you refuse to take care of yourself. This book is the third of a series, but you do not have to read the first two in order to understand and enjoy this one. This is a very talented writer. The writing is smooth and the story never drags.

I was a bookseller in the audience the night Cathie Pelletier picked up her award in Boston for this book, the New England Book Sellers Award. And never has one been more deserved. This has got to be one of the best novels of American life and progress and folklore ever put in print. What a shame future readers will have to search to find it unless it's put back in print. OPRAH, where are you on this one?

I won't bother to recap the theme of the novel, since that's been done quite adequately elsewhere, but I will say that this novel is very funny and sad at the same time - I was either laughing or crying with each page. The author brings these characters to life with such love and depth of feeling that I feel like I know them. I bought this book hoping to learn a little more about the state of Maine and its people (I've recently moved here) and I ended up discovering a new author to add to my list of favorites. Don't miss this one!

The Weight of Winter is one of Pelletier's best yet. This book offers a brilliant description of small town America. She has a magical way of painting a story in which she weaves together layers of tales so true to life that you begin to feel for and with each character. Pelletier has a gifted knack for describiing the small town attitude and character of New England. I strongly recommend this to people who like books with heart, character and New England charm