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Shadows of Winter Robins
Sometimes you must shine a light on the dark places to see what was always there.
Winter Robins is a happy enough child, growing up in the north of England, with parents who love her and the constant companion of a twin brother, but a cold wind blows through when her mother dies. Her father turns to the bottle, her grandmother struggles to cope, and she and her brother are sent to live in Western Australia with family their mother had never mentioned.
Although Winter quickly settles in Australia and comes to love her life and the people in it, she notices strange happenings in the shadows of her new home. When a news story prompts her to look back as her past, she begins to wonder whether things were as idyllic as she had thought at the time.
As she uncovers secret after secret, she realises a much darker narrative may have been – and perhaps still is – playing out ...
Winter Robins is a happy enough child, growing up in the north of England, with parents who love her and the constant companion of a twin brother, but a cold wind blows through when her mother dies. Her father turns to the bottle, her grandmother struggles to cope, and she and her brother are sent to live in Western Australia with family their mother had never mentioned.
Although Winter quickly settles in Australia and comes to love her life and the people in it, she notices strange happenings in the shadows of her new home. When a news story prompts her to look back as her past, she begins to wonder whether things were as idyllic as she had thought at the time.
As she uncovers secret after secret, she realises a much darker narrative may have been – and perhaps still is – playing out ...
346 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2024
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654 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
October 1, 2024
I enjoyed Louise’s first book, An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb, so was excited to read this – it didn’t disappoint!
It’s best going into this blind, not knowing much about the plot. The story centres on Winter Robins, who with her twin brother, get sent from England to Western Australia to live with family they have never met, following a devastating loss.
This is wonderfully dark, menacing and foreboding. There’s a sense that something isn’t quite right, a vibe that gets under your skin and keeps you turning pages. Louise effectively weaves multiple timelines and delivers tension and atmosphere you can practically taste. It’s beautifully written, and filled with a breadcrumb trail of intrigue that kept me engaged.
It shows that novels can be both character-driven and still hold a gripping plot. There reached a point where I stopped trying to guess what would happen. It was best to surrender to the storytelling, knowing Louise would take me places guaranteed to surprise and linger in the mind – signs of an author you can trust.
The characters are well-developed, including the property of Langomar, with its crashing waves, and secrets hiding in shadows. I loved the contrast between childhood Winter and adult Winter, looking back on events, seeing the darkness, and finding new truths. The therapy sessions with Marlena were great, and often got me questioning everything.
This is a novel that requires your full-attention. Once layers began to unravel, the revelations and twists came thick and fast. My head was spinning! I found myself re-reading certain passages with fresh perspectives, appreciating the subtleties of Louise’s writing.
It has been a while since a book left me staring into space once finished. If you’re after an intriguing story with strong sense of place and mind-blowing reveals, then this is for you.
Shadows of Winter Robins has ensured Louise Wolhuter is now among my favourite Australian authors.
“An animal can’t help its nature.”
Many thanks to Ultimo Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It’s best going into this blind, not knowing much about the plot. The story centres on Winter Robins, who with her twin brother, get sent from England to Western Australia to live with family they have never met, following a devastating loss.
This is wonderfully dark, menacing and foreboding. There’s a sense that something isn’t quite right, a vibe that gets under your skin and keeps you turning pages. Louise effectively weaves multiple timelines and delivers tension and atmosphere you can practically taste. It’s beautifully written, and filled with a breadcrumb trail of intrigue that kept me engaged.
It shows that novels can be both character-driven and still hold a gripping plot. There reached a point where I stopped trying to guess what would happen. It was best to surrender to the storytelling, knowing Louise would take me places guaranteed to surprise and linger in the mind – signs of an author you can trust.
The characters are well-developed, including the property of Langomar, with its crashing waves, and secrets hiding in shadows. I loved the contrast between childhood Winter and adult Winter, looking back on events, seeing the darkness, and finding new truths. The therapy sessions with Marlena were great, and often got me questioning everything.
This is a novel that requires your full-attention. Once layers began to unravel, the revelations and twists came thick and fast. My head was spinning! I found myself re-reading certain passages with fresh perspectives, appreciating the subtleties of Louise’s writing.
It has been a while since a book left me staring into space once finished. If you’re after an intriguing story with strong sense of place and mind-blowing reveals, then this is for you.
Shadows of Winter Robins has ensured Louise Wolhuter is now among my favourite Australian authors.
“An animal can’t help its nature.”
Many thanks to Ultimo Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2024
“Secrets don’t have to scare you. Just remember which stones you hide them under. And make sure no one turns them over.”
Shadows Of Winter Robins is the second novel by Australian author, Louise Wolhuter. In mid-2018, thirty-two-year-old Winter Robins is having weekly sessions with her Perth therapist. She’s rather reluctant to share, but does find herself filling the notebook that Marlena gives her with what happened after she turned eight.
Back in 1994, Win is living in Harrogate with her mum, Nancy, her twin brother, Four, and her dad Lew. The twins are especially close to Nancy, and naturally devastated when she fairly suddenly succumbs to cancer. What makes it worse, though, is that Lew is utterly destroyed by grief, unable to function. “While Four and I pulled each other through the brittle branches of our mother’s death, Lew simply sat down in front of that great fallen tree and opened a bottle of Bell’s.” His mother takes over their care, but Sarah Robins, ageing and ailing, soon finds it difficult to manage her two energetic grandchildren.
Their father contacts Nancy’s family in Western Australia and, without any real warning, Winter and Four are whisked off to Langomar, a remote homestead on coastal WA, by an uncle they didn’t even know they had. Nancy had barely spoken about her youth in Australia, but the Bruno family seem friendly enough, or at least, Nancy’s brother Godfrey, aka Dog, and Nanny Mo do. A celebrated artist, Winter’s grandfather, Harry’s moods can be mercurial.
There’s also Ned, a family friend, and the house keeper, Esther, whom the twins recognise from one of the few photos they could rescue from Lew’s fevered burning up of Nancy’s things, and Esther’s young son, Gabe, eager to strike up a friendship. But despite the weather, the beach setting, and the free and easy lifestyle, Winter is puzzled that no one ever talks about Nancy.
There are other strange things around their lives, mysteries of parentage and relationships, visitors and Harry’s strange paintings, but at ten or eleven years old and home-schooled, who is she to say what is right or normal?
Fast-forward twenty years, and the death of her great aunt, coupled with reports of recently-missing backpackers with mentions of similar disappearances two decades earlier, stirs Winter’s recall of certain visitors to Langomar, and some other incidents there.
She starts digging, apprehensive about what she might find. When Winter hears other versions of the stories her mother told, and other accounts of what she experienced at Langomar, she begins to question where the truth lies.
As the story progresses, the reader may begin to wonder about the reliability of Winter’s narrative: perhaps she is as dishonest with herself as others are? And what has prompted these sessions with the therapist? A few toxic males feature in Winter’s life, but they aren’t the only poisonous ones, she realises, almost too late.
Wolhuter wraps a twisty tale in gorgeous descriptive prose and, somewhere in there, asks the question “Can Nature be nurtured out?” Evoking her settings with consummate ease, Wolhuter’s second novel is thought-provoking and more than a bit unsettling.
Shadows Of Winter Robins is the second novel by Australian author, Louise Wolhuter. In mid-2018, thirty-two-year-old Winter Robins is having weekly sessions with her Perth therapist. She’s rather reluctant to share, but does find herself filling the notebook that Marlena gives her with what happened after she turned eight.
Back in 1994, Win is living in Harrogate with her mum, Nancy, her twin brother, Four, and her dad Lew. The twins are especially close to Nancy, and naturally devastated when she fairly suddenly succumbs to cancer. What makes it worse, though, is that Lew is utterly destroyed by grief, unable to function. “While Four and I pulled each other through the brittle branches of our mother’s death, Lew simply sat down in front of that great fallen tree and opened a bottle of Bell’s.” His mother takes over their care, but Sarah Robins, ageing and ailing, soon finds it difficult to manage her two energetic grandchildren.
Their father contacts Nancy’s family in Western Australia and, without any real warning, Winter and Four are whisked off to Langomar, a remote homestead on coastal WA, by an uncle they didn’t even know they had. Nancy had barely spoken about her youth in Australia, but the Bruno family seem friendly enough, or at least, Nancy’s brother Godfrey, aka Dog, and Nanny Mo do. A celebrated artist, Winter’s grandfather, Harry’s moods can be mercurial.
There’s also Ned, a family friend, and the house keeper, Esther, whom the twins recognise from one of the few photos they could rescue from Lew’s fevered burning up of Nancy’s things, and Esther’s young son, Gabe, eager to strike up a friendship. But despite the weather, the beach setting, and the free and easy lifestyle, Winter is puzzled that no one ever talks about Nancy.
There are other strange things around their lives, mysteries of parentage and relationships, visitors and Harry’s strange paintings, but at ten or eleven years old and home-schooled, who is she to say what is right or normal?
Fast-forward twenty years, and the death of her great aunt, coupled with reports of recently-missing backpackers with mentions of similar disappearances two decades earlier, stirs Winter’s recall of certain visitors to Langomar, and some other incidents there.
She starts digging, apprehensive about what she might find. When Winter hears other versions of the stories her mother told, and other accounts of what she experienced at Langomar, she begins to question where the truth lies.
As the story progresses, the reader may begin to wonder about the reliability of Winter’s narrative: perhaps she is as dishonest with herself as others are? And what has prompted these sessions with the therapist? A few toxic males feature in Winter’s life, but they aren’t the only poisonous ones, she realises, almost too late.
Wolhuter wraps a twisty tale in gorgeous descriptive prose and, somewhere in there, asks the question “Can Nature be nurtured out?” Evoking her settings with consummate ease, Wolhuter’s second novel is thought-provoking and more than a bit unsettling.
July 28, 2024
*https://www.instagram.com/mrsb_book_r...
🪶Louise Wolhuter made a splash on the Australian literary scene with her debut novel An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb. Louise Wolhuter is back with another thrilling and dark tale of secrets, the past and disturbing memories. A winding plot that will have you questioning everything you read, Shadows of Winter Robins is an eerie read from cover to cover.
🪶Shadows of Winter Robins tells the story of a girl named Winter Robins and her brother, who suffer from a tumultuous childhood. The death of Winter and her twin brother’s mother puts the two in a vulnerable position when their father chooses the bottle of his children and their grandmother tries to take over their main care. But relatives from Australia come to the rescue and soon Winter and her brother travel to the other side of the world for a new life. Australia brings many new experiences for young Winter but it also summons a dark shadow over her life which will have implications for her adult existence. What secrets and events surround Winter Robins?
🪶Atmospheric, situational, striking and affective, I appreciated Wolhuter's narrative. As soon as I opened up Wolhuter’s book I was struck by the mood and tone of the novel, it was took me to unknown territory, which made me a little afraid but it also felt exciting. It was great to be acquainted with the titular character, her brother and family. A complex cast fills the pages of Shadows of Winter Robins and I have to say this area of the novel was a highlight. I loved the Australia and Britain setting cross too. I found my interest was piqued by the secrets, darkness and shady areas of the storyline, especially in regards to past events. It is hard to say too much about this one without ruining the story for others.
🪶I’m grateful to the team at @utlimopress for introducing me to the work of Louise Wolhuter.
🪶Louise Wolhuter made a splash on the Australian literary scene with her debut novel An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb. Louise Wolhuter is back with another thrilling and dark tale of secrets, the past and disturbing memories. A winding plot that will have you questioning everything you read, Shadows of Winter Robins is an eerie read from cover to cover.
🪶Shadows of Winter Robins tells the story of a girl named Winter Robins and her brother, who suffer from a tumultuous childhood. The death of Winter and her twin brother’s mother puts the two in a vulnerable position when their father chooses the bottle of his children and their grandmother tries to take over their main care. But relatives from Australia come to the rescue and soon Winter and her brother travel to the other side of the world for a new life. Australia brings many new experiences for young Winter but it also summons a dark shadow over her life which will have implications for her adult existence. What secrets and events surround Winter Robins?
🪶Atmospheric, situational, striking and affective, I appreciated Wolhuter's narrative. As soon as I opened up Wolhuter’s book I was struck by the mood and tone of the novel, it was took me to unknown territory, which made me a little afraid but it also felt exciting. It was great to be acquainted with the titular character, her brother and family. A complex cast fills the pages of Shadows of Winter Robins and I have to say this area of the novel was a highlight. I loved the Australia and Britain setting cross too. I found my interest was piqued by the secrets, darkness and shady areas of the storyline, especially in regards to past events. It is hard to say too much about this one without ruining the story for others.
🪶I’m grateful to the team at @utlimopress for introducing me to the work of Louise Wolhuter.
July 18, 2024
Reading this book was a strangely unsettling experience. Something akin to that feeling you get when, eating a delicious sandwich, you feel a sudden, unexpected crunch and you think "that's not right." That feeling of unease is this book. I really enjoyed it, but it wasn't comfortable.
May 19, 2024
This was a full on experience of a book. The writing is deliciously descriptive and wonderfully wordy. I loved the style of this one so much. The joy with the crackle of something sinister is right there from the start, the story ebbs and flows like the waves at the beach.
A tricky review to write, I’ve gone back to the blurb several times as I’m so keen not to spoiler the story, Winter Robins had a good start to life. Lucky to have a twin brother and best friend rolled into one. Loving parents and a granny. Winter and fours mum dies, and when her dad hits the bottle and her granny can’t cope, her uncle dog comes from Australia to fetch them home to her mother’s side of the family. It’s different there, it’s warm at Christmas and Four really wants to go home, but Win is happy, they’ve got a good life there and family and she’s clean and fed and her grandmother makes sure she doesn’t have lice or bits between her toes.
Along with adult winter, a teacher, noticing now, the kids with spitballs in their curls and grey socks and fingernails. When a news article hits (just as Win is suspended, with a mandatory 10 sessions with a therapist, for caring too much about a left behind child) we journey back through Wins life, an idyllic life, it was, wasn’t it? With Four, and gran and Harry and Alison. Uncle dog, Hettie and Gabe. She was happy, she remembers it, but what lives in the shadows comes into the light one way or another, and the story rolls with shock after stunning shock of truth in the most mesmerising way.
“You cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good you can do” - Alison.
I think this might very well be my book of the year! A stunner from a new to me author.
The narration by Maddy Withington was perfectly paired with the writing.
All the stars 🌟
#Jorecommends
With thanks to Wavesound from W F Howes via NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this ELC in return for an honest review.
A tricky review to write, I’ve gone back to the blurb several times as I’m so keen not to spoiler the story, Winter Robins had a good start to life. Lucky to have a twin brother and best friend rolled into one. Loving parents and a granny. Winter and fours mum dies, and when her dad hits the bottle and her granny can’t cope, her uncle dog comes from Australia to fetch them home to her mother’s side of the family. It’s different there, it’s warm at Christmas and Four really wants to go home, but Win is happy, they’ve got a good life there and family and she’s clean and fed and her grandmother makes sure she doesn’t have lice or bits between her toes.
Along with adult winter, a teacher, noticing now, the kids with spitballs in their curls and grey socks and fingernails. When a news article hits (just as Win is suspended, with a mandatory 10 sessions with a therapist, for caring too much about a left behind child) we journey back through Wins life, an idyllic life, it was, wasn’t it? With Four, and gran and Harry and Alison. Uncle dog, Hettie and Gabe. She was happy, she remembers it, but what lives in the shadows comes into the light one way or another, and the story rolls with shock after stunning shock of truth in the most mesmerising way.
“You cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good you can do” - Alison.
I think this might very well be my book of the year! A stunner from a new to me author.
The narration by Maddy Withington was perfectly paired with the writing.
All the stars 🌟
#Jorecommends
With thanks to Wavesound from W F Howes via NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this ELC in return for an honest review.
June 3, 2024
“You cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that you can do.”
My goodness, that was full on! So full on that I feel like I need to read it again.
I was completely unsettled when I started to read this book. The characters were complex and slightly eerie, there were lots of story lines throughout the book and lots of secrets. There was a real strangeness about it all.
The book starts off with Winters time in England then moving to Australia and settling in to her new life. The story moves back and forth from 2018 to 1994. Throughout the novel there are snippets of Winter seeing her therapist, however, we are not sure why she’s seeing this therapist.
As Winter grows up and people move, leave and change she starts to notice things, tries to piece them together, becomes a detective of sorts and uncovers so many secrets.
I cannot explain the turn of events, nor what was uncovered. I did not expect this book to go there, to reveal this, to even DO this. I cannot mention what this is because you need to have this 🤯 experience!
I’m actually quite blown away. It’s quite the masterpiece. It was gripping and disturbing, dark but written with such eloquence that I will never forget it.
I really must read An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb now, I really loved Louise’s beautiful writing.
A huge thank you to @ultimopress for sending me this copy. Always so grateful.
My goodness, that was full on! So full on that I feel like I need to read it again.
I was completely unsettled when I started to read this book. The characters were complex and slightly eerie, there were lots of story lines throughout the book and lots of secrets. There was a real strangeness about it all.
The book starts off with Winters time in England then moving to Australia and settling in to her new life. The story moves back and forth from 2018 to 1994. Throughout the novel there are snippets of Winter seeing her therapist, however, we are not sure why she’s seeing this therapist.
As Winter grows up and people move, leave and change she starts to notice things, tries to piece them together, becomes a detective of sorts and uncovers so many secrets.
I cannot explain the turn of events, nor what was uncovered. I did not expect this book to go there, to reveal this, to even DO this. I cannot mention what this is because you need to have this 🤯 experience!
I’m actually quite blown away. It’s quite the masterpiece. It was gripping and disturbing, dark but written with such eloquence that I will never forget it.
I really must read An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb now, I really loved Louise’s beautiful writing.
A huge thank you to @ultimopress for sending me this copy. Always so grateful.
May 26, 2024
Deliciously unsettling. Winter Robins is a teacher who cares a little too much for her neglected students - the ones with unkempt hair, no lunches, parents, who forget to pick them up at home time. Whilst on suspension, she is given a mandatory 10 sessions with a counsellor, which brings us back and forth in time to her own childhood. She always felt like it was idyllic and filled with love, but each journey back in time leaves a little more unease and questions. The audiobook tantalisingly draws us on a journey of discovery alongside the protagonist as she dips back into her own story. #shadowsofwinterrobins #Louisewolhuter #netgalley #wfhowes #audiobook
July 31, 2024
Winter Robins is enjoying a happy childhood in the north of England when tragedy strikes and she is taken to Western Australia to live with her extended family. We follow Winter's journey of discovery through twists and turns that kept me guessing to the last page. There are so many wonderful descriptions, interesting characters, passages I read over again. A particular highlight was the description of the loss of Winter's mother very early in the novel which was truly beautiful.
"Is there one moment when it all changes? If you ran your life in reverse, what would it all boil down to, as the say? Would you find it like a pip in a glass of lemonade ... And there it is: that pip of a moment. That instant. That fraction of a second. That weightless stillness at the very top of a ball's bounce, between its going up and falling down."
Wolhuter has followed her wonderful debut, An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb, with the even better novel in the Shadows of Winter Robins. Highly recommended.
"Is there one moment when it all changes? If you ran your life in reverse, what would it all boil down to, as the say? Would you find it like a pip in a glass of lemonade ... And there it is: that pip of a moment. That instant. That fraction of a second. That weightless stillness at the very top of a ball's bounce, between its going up and falling down."
Wolhuter has followed her wonderful debut, An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb, with the even better novel in the Shadows of Winter Robins. Highly recommended.
November 6, 2024
Well it’s not about the beautiful red robins I love in Scotland but a very unusual name for a young girl. Set in England Robin is a young girl when her mother passed away. Her grandmother doesn’t keep well so Robin has to move away with her uncle to Western Australia with her younger brother. Her father is unable to look after them as he began drinking … heavily.
That’s when everything changes so much for her with the move to Australia . The climate and remoteness of the house. But she seems to settle in until strange things begin to happen. Deaths and other strange things.
I got a tad bored in the middle but then the story picked up and I did not anticipate the last few chapters. You just never really know some people and this story just proved it.
A very well written book and I’m so glad I stuck with it due to the number of stars given by most readers.
That’s when everything changes so much for her with the move to Australia . The climate and remoteness of the house. But she seems to settle in until strange things begin to happen. Deaths and other strange things.
I got a tad bored in the middle but then the story picked up and I did not anticipate the last few chapters. You just never really know some people and this story just proved it.
A very well written book and I’m so glad I stuck with it due to the number of stars given by most readers.
January 28, 2025
Upon her mother’s death, a girl (Winter) is sent from England to live with her grandparents in southwest Australia. There she determines that many things in her life – from her own life history to multiple deaths in Australia – are strange, unknown, unexplained and convoluted. Although this was in many respects a murder mystery (a genre of which I am not a big fan and not an appropriate reviewer), there was much more to this novel. The descriptions of the setting on the Australian beach were beautiful and tangible. The details of that setting, from the house to the ocean, were fully portrayed and compelling. The characters were nicely drawn as well. They were good and bad, and the reader never knew which part of a character’s personality was the person’s “true self”. Art was a theme as well, because several of the important characters were artists. The art they created cast an interesting spell over the novel. The effect of Winter’s difficult childhood (which included the loss of her mother and years of being uncared for) on her lifelong mental health was significant throughout the story. Although I did not figure out who the murderer was (until the novel disclosed it), I did find the multiple murder side of the novel to be disappointing and, for me, rather pointless other than for the purpose of keeping the reader guessing. However, I enjoyed the interesting characters and the very well done settings.
August 19, 2024
What a gorgeous book. It feels so rare to find a whole novel of such beautiful, atmospheric prose. It feels like what language was made for.
It paints such a convincing picture of a glorious but mysterious upbringing in a great location, with a cast of such compelling and interesting and true characters. Complete page turner. I think I would read Louise Wolhuter’s grocery list at this point.
It paints such a convincing picture of a glorious but mysterious upbringing in a great location, with a cast of such compelling and interesting and true characters. Complete page turner. I think I would read Louise Wolhuter’s grocery list at this point.
May 16, 2024
4+ ⭐
Ooooh, this was good.
An undercurrent of something not quite right the whole time.
It had me picking up every clue, every remark, trying to put the pieces together.
I would never have put them all together. There were many surprises in this book, and I enjoyed every one of them.
Winter was a great narrator for the story, the time flicking back and forth from childhood to adulthood.
I enjoyed this one a lot.
The authors previous book made it into my books of the year in 23, and think this is going to make this year's list.
This is a review for the audiobook
Ooooh, this was good.
An undercurrent of something not quite right the whole time.
It had me picking up every clue, every remark, trying to put the pieces together.
I would never have put them all together. There were many surprises in this book, and I enjoyed every one of them.
Winter was a great narrator for the story, the time flicking back and forth from childhood to adulthood.
I enjoyed this one a lot.
The authors previous book made it into my books of the year in 23, and think this is going to make this year's list.
This is a review for the audiobook
April 12, 2025
I really liked the writing style and the slow unravelling of the darkness around Winter Robins and the Bruno family. I did not expect the twist at the end concerning Nancy and all the murders of the backpackers, but I still don't understand why Gabe had to be killed by Winnie. Very interesting storyline, but the twists took me a moment to wrap my head around making sense of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2024
I absolutely devoured this book. I loved its pace and intrigue.
You love, doubt, question and dislike most characters in equal measure throughout.
The prose is plentiful, rich and relatable. The twists or shadows in this book will delight and tease you right until the end.
You love, doubt, question and dislike most characters in equal measure throughout.
The prose is plentiful, rich and relatable. The twists or shadows in this book will delight and tease you right until the end.
July 17, 2024
Beautiful prose and beautiful imagery!!!!
Mesmerizing 🥰
Mesmerizing 🥰
July 6, 2024
I didn’t read Louise Wolhuter’s debut novel An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb but now I think I should pick it up as her second novel was really good. Shadows of Winter Robins was a compelling, twisty, mystery read that really takes an unexpected direction and is almost impossible to describe without giving away the intricacies of the plot.
The story centres on a young girl Winter Robins and her twin brother Four. They live in England with their parents until the mother dies and their father in his grief is no longer able to care for them. Without warning they are sent to live with the grandparents and uncle they never knew existed on a farm in Western Australia. Winter takes to her new life but the family and the farm have lots of secrets some of which take many years to unravel. By the end of this book the twists that happen are mind blowing and I’m still not sure I have followed all the threads!
This was well written and a real puzzle of a story. Well worth picking up if you like a contemporary mystery.
Thank you to @ultimopress for my #gifted copy.
The story centres on a young girl Winter Robins and her twin brother Four. They live in England with their parents until the mother dies and their father in his grief is no longer able to care for them. Without warning they are sent to live with the grandparents and uncle they never knew existed on a farm in Western Australia. Winter takes to her new life but the family and the farm have lots of secrets some of which take many years to unravel. By the end of this book the twists that happen are mind blowing and I’m still not sure I have followed all the threads!
This was well written and a real puzzle of a story. Well worth picking up if you like a contemporary mystery.
Thank you to @ultimopress for my #gifted copy.
December 19, 2025
What a ride this novel was! From the beginning I was reeled in by Louise's beautiful prose and intricate character development. This story creeps up on you though and before long, I found it very hard to put down, so much so, I decided to both read and listen, to maximise my time with it across a super busy week. Fans of audiobooks, I highly recommend this one, the narration is terrific, very atmospheric.
"And that's the best of all that I remember about my mother: a laugh that sprayed on everyone like water from a split hose on a sumner's day."
How gorgeous is that? I love the visual imagery that Louise's writing conjurs up. She has such a way with words.
I can't even begin to unpack the plot of this one. I felt like I was walking backwards in a blindfold through a maze for the duration. Nothing is certain, no one is who you think they are. Even the genre is slippery. But I'll tell you one thing: this novel is unlike anything you will have read before.
Thanks to @ultimopress for the review copy.
"And that's the best of all that I remember about my mother: a laugh that sprayed on everyone like water from a split hose on a sumner's day."
How gorgeous is that? I love the visual imagery that Louise's writing conjurs up. She has such a way with words.
I can't even begin to unpack the plot of this one. I felt like I was walking backwards in a blindfold through a maze for the duration. Nothing is certain, no one is who you think they are. Even the genre is slippery. But I'll tell you one thing: this novel is unlike anything you will have read before.
Thanks to @ultimopress for the review copy.
June 1, 2025
Wow! This book was an unexpected highlight in this year’s book selection so far. I thoroughly enjoyed the nuanced characters, the backdrop locations but the plot line was so cleverly ambiguous that l feel the need to debrief with another reader having finished it.
This novel leaves me contemplating the plot’s many complexities and themes and is still swirling around my head many hours after finishing it.
I will be looking up other works from this author and will no doubt enjoy them too if this book is anything to go by.
This novel leaves me contemplating the plot’s many complexities and themes and is still swirling around my head many hours after finishing it.
I will be looking up other works from this author and will no doubt enjoy them too if this book is anything to go by.
July 17, 2024
A beautifully descriptive slow paced thriller that ends with a big bang. I very much enjoyed this
August 11, 2024
I couldn’t decide if this was a 3 or 4 star read for me. But for page-turning / can’t put down it gets a 4. It’s beautifully written. I found it a bit slow to get going but it wowed me at the end of part one. Was the twist obvious to others? As it totally got me. The book then went to places I completely did not expect, so those twists kept me intrigued. There was a lot in the plot in the second half of the book, I almost couldn’t keep up and had to go back and re-read over a couple of things. I still don’t have a great handle on the complexity of Winter Robins’ character and a few of her actions… but I look forward to being a fly on the wall and hearing her live interview at our local Bookclub at the end of this month! Overall I enjoyed it and would like to read Louise’s first novel.
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August 30, 2024ARC provided via NetGalley
No rating as this wasn't bad per se. It just wasn't for me.
No rating as this wasn't bad per se. It just wasn't for me.
January 7, 2026
Compelling and unsettling, winding ever tighter as you turn the pages.
On literary merit, it's worth five stars. Brilliant.
Does the world need such relentless darkness from art/literature at the moment? I don't think so.
I wouldn't have read this if I'd been properly warned but once I was in, I couldn't release myself from the web. That's how well written it is.
On literary merit, it's worth five stars. Brilliant.
Does the world need such relentless darkness from art/literature at the moment? I don't think so.
I wouldn't have read this if I'd been properly warned but once I was in, I couldn't release myself from the web. That's how well written it is.
August 20, 2024
Wow! What a ride!
September 7, 2024
I loved this, in fact it's the best mystery novel I've read for some time. The writing is a joy to experience, the descriptions are lyrical but not too much, the story is layered with surprises and reveals. It jumps from one era to another, unpeeling the information bit by bit. I highly recommend this read, and look forward to her next.
April 23, 2025
This had my attention from the very beginning. It is writing to be savoured, but hard to stop racing ahead. Great narrative tension (also heightened for me due to knowing the sort of reveals this author is capable of, from her previous novel). I had my theories along the way and some of them were correct. Wonderfully convoluted plot with so much to unravel, and actual spine tingles.
July 20, 2024
This book is such a deliciously, twisty drama that refuses to be put down. If you love great domestic drama, with twists and a kicker of an ending, then jump on this book!
September 1, 2024
Wow!
This is a very well written book that had me on a roller coaster of emotions & second guessing reality.
Nature versus nurture debate continues.
Thank you Lou Wolhuter!
This is a very well written book that had me on a roller coaster of emotions & second guessing reality.
Nature versus nurture debate continues.
Thank you Lou Wolhuter!
August 25, 2024
Omg what a mind …….
This is certainly a psychological story
This is certainly a psychological story
August 23, 2024
4.5 stars. This is a compelling read. Lots of unexpected turns and revelations. I enjoyed the writing style and childhood perspective.
June 5, 2024
SPOILER FREE REVIEW: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summed Up: The Cosy Coffee, Winter Wrap Up Book You Need To Read
- - -
Nothing beats cosying up with a blanket, coffee, and a good book on a frosty winters day ☕️📕… except when that book is a 5 star read with a main character named Winter! ⭐️❄️
This was my first @louisewolhuter_writer read, and it was pure joy. The descriptions were as beautiful and crisp as the autumn leaves outside my window 🍁 and the characters had the depth of a perfect hot chocolate - rich and satisfying.
The storyline was a nice pace but still kept me on the edge of my comfy couch with anticipation and suspense building until BAM!! 💥 surprises galore in store! It was truly an amazing refreshing writing style that I hadn’t experienced in a while.
Summed Up: The Cosy Coffee, Winter Wrap Up Book You Need To Read
- - -
Nothing beats cosying up with a blanket, coffee, and a good book on a frosty winters day ☕️📕… except when that book is a 5 star read with a main character named Winter! ⭐️❄️
This was my first @louisewolhuter_writer read, and it was pure joy. The descriptions were as beautiful and crisp as the autumn leaves outside my window 🍁 and the characters had the depth of a perfect hot chocolate - rich and satisfying.
The storyline was a nice pace but still kept me on the edge of my comfy couch with anticipation and suspense building until BAM!! 💥 surprises galore in store! It was truly an amazing refreshing writing style that I hadn’t experienced in a while.
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