Winter by Ali Smith

 

Art has a dilemma.  He has promised his mother, Sophia, to come home for the Christmas holidays and bring his long time partner, Charlotte. His mother who ran a set of shops that were known by everyone, lost money when her enterprise failed and left London for a rambling country house with fifteen bedrooms that Art has never seen.  He was dreading the visit but then he and Charlotte broke up.  He doesn't want to tell his mother all about that so he hires a student, Lux, that he meets on the street to accompany him and pretend to be Charlotte.

When Art and Lux arrive, they find a falling down house that is freezing.  Sophia is very very thin and there is no food in the house.  She states that there is no room for Charlotte and she must sleep in the barn but although she is unwelcoming she will only respond to Lux.  Art is appalled and doesn't know what to do.  When his mother seems to deteriorate further and have a medical episode, he ends up calling her sister, Iris, who Sophia has been alienated from for decades.

Iris arrives with food and help.  Iris was a die hard liberal, spending her life living in communes and attending protests against war, bombs, the Brexit exit and other liberal causes.  Slowly as the two sisters start to talk, the truth of each of their lives emerge along with the reasons they have been estranged.

This is the second in Ali Smith's Seasonal Quartet.  Although each is centered around a season, the novels are stand alone and have different characters.  In Winter, Smith explores the concept of family and what obligations we have to those we are related to.  She also delves into hidden family secrets and whether truth is owed to others.  Readers will find much to relate to in the novel with talk of Brexit and American politics as touchpoints.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.