Book Review: Winterset Hollow, by Jonathan Edward Durham
A grimdark return to all those cute animal stories of your childhood.
Credo House Publishers, 2021, 286 pages
Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction...especially on Addington Isle.
Winterset Hollow follows a group of friends to the place that inspired their favorite book - a timeless tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their yearly end-of-summer festival. But after a series of shocking discoveries, they find that much of what the world believes to be fiction is actually fact, and that the truth behind their beloved story is darker and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It's Barley Day...and you're invited to the hunt.
Winterset Hollow is as thrilling as it is terrifying and as smart as it is surprising. A uniquely original story filled with properly unexpected twists and turns, Winterset Hollow delivers complex, indelible characters and pulse- pounding action as it storms toward an unforgettable climax that will leave you reeling. How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run.
The table was set and all were met with barleywine and beer
There were kin around and smiles abound as Barley Day was here
Glass-blue skies and pumpkin pies and bellies full of bread
Stories of old about glory and gold and the paths the elders tread
The Hollow was never so peaceful amid the buffalos' retreat
The foxes were never so impish, the owls ne'er sang so sweet
The breeze was never so warm as it was on that September day
Every frog in his own little bog and not a worry to weigh
In Winterset Hollow, a group of visitors take a trip to Addington Isle, where the author Edward Addington once lived. Addington wrote a beloved children's book about fuzzy wuzzy talking animals, the sort of book that became a treasured part of a generation's childhood. Jonathan Edward Durham sprinkles Winterset Hollow with poems from the fictional Winterset Hollow that really do feel timeless and charming and make you feel like you are visiting Hundred Acre Woods or the pastoral English landscape of The Wind in the Willows.
But just as the poem at the beginning of the book takes a darker turn towards the end, Winterset Hollow isn't a light-hearted fantasy. It's both survival horror and a metaphorical tale about inhumanity.
When three friends - Caroline, her boyfriend Mark, and third wheel (but actually the main protagonist) Eamon - along with a small group of other fellow fans (extras) arrive at Addington Isle, they discover that Winterset Hollow was actually based on reality. But the reality was much, much darker.
This premise isn't entirely original: we've seen a number of books based on the idea "What if your favorite childhood story was real?" The most obvious comparison is Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which is sort of "What if Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia were real, but really fucked up?" But Winterset Hollow isn't taking a dump on the original stories. Durham has done something new here and the writing is evocative if slow-moving at first. From the relationships between the three friends to Eamon's interior monologue to the abrupt turn to the fantastic, and a lavish feast with talking bunnies, frogs, and foxes, everything is lushly described and feels very real at an emotional level.
Pretty soon, things go from weird to creepy to holy shit and the story takes a grimdark turn and just keeps going.
But this isn't just a story about talking animals turning into monsters. It's not juvenile at all, and every character, including the animals (especially the animals!) gets a lot of exposition and depth. Finn the Fox is a compelling, murderous villain and yet he's charming and eloquent and by the end he's almost sympathetic. It's hard to say whether Olivia the Owl or Bing the Bear are more tragic, but you will feel sorry for all these critters, even though they spend most of the book hunting down the poor kids who just wanted to see the place they read about as children.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Winterset Hollow; a portal fantasy for grown-ups? A horror novel? A survivalist story with humans vs. talking animals? It's kind of all those things, but it's very good.
How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run.
My complete list of book reviews.
Credo House Publishers, 2021, 286 pages
Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction...especially on Addington Isle.
Winterset Hollow follows a group of friends to the place that inspired their favorite book - a timeless tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their yearly end-of-summer festival. But after a series of shocking discoveries, they find that much of what the world believes to be fiction is actually fact, and that the truth behind their beloved story is darker and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It's Barley Day...and you're invited to the hunt.
Winterset Hollow is as thrilling as it is terrifying and as smart as it is surprising. A uniquely original story filled with properly unexpected twists and turns, Winterset Hollow delivers complex, indelible characters and pulse- pounding action as it storms toward an unforgettable climax that will leave you reeling. How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run.
The table was set and all were met with barleywine and beer
There were kin around and smiles abound as Barley Day was here
Glass-blue skies and pumpkin pies and bellies full of bread
Stories of old about glory and gold and the paths the elders tread
The Hollow was never so peaceful amid the buffalos' retreat
The foxes were never so impish, the owls ne'er sang so sweet
The breeze was never so warm as it was on that September day
Every frog in his own little bog and not a worry to weigh
In Winterset Hollow, a group of visitors take a trip to Addington Isle, where the author Edward Addington once lived. Addington wrote a beloved children's book about fuzzy wuzzy talking animals, the sort of book that became a treasured part of a generation's childhood. Jonathan Edward Durham sprinkles Winterset Hollow with poems from the fictional Winterset Hollow that really do feel timeless and charming and make you feel like you are visiting Hundred Acre Woods or the pastoral English landscape of The Wind in the Willows.
But just as the poem at the beginning of the book takes a darker turn towards the end, Winterset Hollow isn't a light-hearted fantasy. It's both survival horror and a metaphorical tale about inhumanity.
When three friends - Caroline, her boyfriend Mark, and third wheel (but actually the main protagonist) Eamon - along with a small group of other fellow fans (extras) arrive at Addington Isle, they discover that Winterset Hollow was actually based on reality. But the reality was much, much darker.
This premise isn't entirely original: we've seen a number of books based on the idea "What if your favorite childhood story was real?" The most obvious comparison is Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which is sort of "What if Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia were real, but really fucked up?" But Winterset Hollow isn't taking a dump on the original stories. Durham has done something new here and the writing is evocative if slow-moving at first. From the relationships between the three friends to Eamon's interior monologue to the abrupt turn to the fantastic, and a lavish feast with talking bunnies, frogs, and foxes, everything is lushly described and feels very real at an emotional level.
Pretty soon, things go from weird to creepy to holy shit and the story takes a grimdark turn and just keeps going.
But this isn't just a story about talking animals turning into monsters. It's not juvenile at all, and every character, including the animals (especially the animals!) gets a lot of exposition and depth. Finn the Fox is a compelling, murderous villain and yet he's charming and eloquent and by the end he's almost sympathetic. It's hard to say whether Olivia the Owl or Bing the Bear are more tragic, but you will feel sorry for all these critters, even though they spend most of the book hunting down the poor kids who just wanted to see the place they read about as children.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Winterset Hollow; a portal fantasy for grown-ups? A horror novel? A survivalist story with humans vs. talking animals? It's kind of all those things, but it's very good.
How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run.
My complete list of book reviews.