A Spell of Winter is a 1995 gothic novel by Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore is a British poet, novelist and children's writer. Educated at the University of York, she now lives in Bristol....

, set in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, around the time of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The novel was the first recipient of the Orange Prize for Fiction

Orange Prize for Fiction

The Orange Prize for Fiction is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes, annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year...

, in 1996.

Synopsis

Abandoned by their parents and brought up by the servants on their grandfather's estate, Catherine and Rob have no one but each other. However, as their love for each other oversteps boundaries, the siblings' relationship becomes chaotic as the state of the outside world heading for World War I. As the world around Catherine changes dramatically, will she find the will to break the spell of winter and leave her isolated world?