Winter Rose

As always, McKillip’s prose is magical without being dense or hard to read. Her books are like diving into a dream and leaving the self behind, coming out of it when the book is finished with ghosts and traces of the dream clinging to you for a while. Winter Rose is a small and contained story, with only one POV and taken place in a very limited set of environments. Because it’s so introspective and explores otherworldly magic, however, it didn’t feel claustrophobic, at least not in the sense of me as the reader getting bored. It does portray the theme of being trapped and controlled, though. I could also feel the main character’s obsession, and shared it. I read it in two sittings because I was so wrapped up in the mystery and tragedy that I couldn’t put it down. I was really concerned about how McKillip would resolve a certain conflict, but I think she handled it really well. I was fully satisfied, which is rare for me. I loved the themes of family and loyalty and freedom. There were parts I didn’t enjoy reading, but overall I really loved it.

"Winter Rose" is a fairy tale in more than one sense of the word. It has the feel of every decent fairy tale--curses, siblings, mysterious strangers, and puzzles that must be unlocked. It contains elements I've seen before, and this isn't a bad thing; this is hardly some rehashed, barely warmed-over, half-hearted retelling. It's quite original and interesting, despite the fairy-tale familiarity. It is also a fairy tale in that it tells a story of mortal dealings with the land of fairies. Not little people with wings, but the terrible, dangerous fey creatures who are, often as not, the downfall of the mortals who encounter them. I loved the characters in this book. The book gave me a strong feel for the ones that showed up often. Rois, Laurel, Perrin, Rois's father, Corbet, some of the people from the village--I enjoyed every one of them, and felt as though I knew them by the end of the book. This did, however, cause the natural problem that always emerges when the characters are too interesting in a book--I hated to let go of them at the end! Perhaps the only flaw in the characters is that the tale deals with things that happened two generations ago, involving the memories of many people. After a while I lost track of a few of the people referred to. It wasn't a strong enough effect to mar my enjoyment of the book, however; it was an incidental and momentary confusion. "Winter Rose" went by in the span of a heartbeat for me; I started reading it mid-morning and was done with it before dinner. It pulled me in and enchanted me. I had trouble returning to reality, and simply couldn't start reading another book right away. My head was lost in the gorgeous world McKillip had evoked with her elegant words.

Patricia McKillip is one of America's best writers and in this book she returns to a theme dear to her heart - the quest for personal identity. The quest is carried on through language that is so profound and developed one feels like one is hallucinating while reading the story. Wrapped in clouds of glory, beauty, and mystery one follows the narrator Rois who knows that truth is at the bottom of a well. Others fall for the mysterious stranger Corbet Lynn in the most superficial way but Rois seeks to penetrate the glamor to the secret within Corbet's courtesy and personal beauty. This story tells us that the erotic quest is fulfilled in being true to ourselves despite the gnawing logic of the temptations that would seek to mislead us from our chosen path. Patricia Mckillip began writing of these themes with her epic fantasy classic "The Riddle Master" trilogy. Over time she has transformed herself into a magician of words as good as her contemporaries like Catherynne Valente (The Labyrinth) and Greer Ilene Gilman (Moonwise). These three crowned ladies are the greatest prose stylists since Vladimir Nabokov. Five stars for Ms. McKillip - each one made of the purest silver!

How can two sisters be so different? Laurel is beautiful, proper, thoughtful, and utterly sensible. She calmly cares for her widowed father and plans her wedding to her childhood sweetheart. Rois is a wild freespirit who roams the woods by day and sometimes by night searching for something even she could not name. But they soon discover that they have one thing in common...his name is Corbet Lynn...Corbet returns to his father's childhood home and begins restoration work amid a storm of rumors and gossip. Corbet's grandfather was murdered in that house and most believe that Corbet's father was the guilty party. But all know, whether his son murdered him or not, that the old man used his last breath to place a dreadful curse on his son...and his son's descendents. Almost as soon as Rois sets eyes upon the young man, she is determined to unravel the mysteries of his past. But her fascination with his unusual history is soon replaced by feelings that are much stronger. She never expected that she would give her heart so easily...or that her feelings would not be returned when she did. It would seem that Corbet has taken a fancy to Laurel...who returns his feelings whole heartedly, fiancee or no.But Rois can not back out of the picture as easily as she got into it. As the curse begins to bear fruit, Rois finds herself tangled in its web. She realizes that it is up to her to save the man she loves...even if she saves him so that he can freely love another...her own sister. What Rois didn't count on was the truths she would learn about her own past...and her surprising destiny...Reading this book was like looking at a beautiful painting. The word pictures are marvelous and the emotions are almost too real. Readers are swept away in a tide of romance, jealousy, hatred, and mystery. Fantasy readers will love it!

Ms. McKillip has woven magic into this book. A tale of falling sunlight, drowning roses, shadowy green eyes, sweet perfumed water, cold winter days, half-seen images: of fey and the ordinary, of a hidden secret, a hidden sorrow in the Lynn legends. This is the story of Rois, the untamed, witch-like daughter of a farmer, and how, by loving the fey Corbet Lynn and ferreting out his secrets, following him through dreams and reality, she finally becomes human. A poignant tale, I cried at times, swept away by the emotional power of Ms. McKillip's poetic prose. I have never read anything so beautiful. So sad. I love this book very much. Not only was it amazing trying to follow Rois and Corbet through realms beyond, but trying to distinguish what was dream and what was reality. The imagery used, the symbolism, was so otherworldly in its significance, in its beauty, that I was awed as well as moved much of the time. I wish Patricia McKillip's other books were as this one. By making it a first-person-narrative you never lose focus of the character while becoming adrift in the world. Again, this really was very beautiful (there is no other word; it's like a melody that stirs the soul) and I was spell-bound.

This one is a wonderful expansion of the ancient tale about the young woman winning her lover back from the realm of faerie. McKillip takes a short faery tale and turns it into an engrossing novel with fully developed characters and plot. As always, her lavish treatment of detail makes for beautiful reading and I can't get enough of her prose.