A Winter's Tale

by Jon Godden

In a snowbound English country house a man and a woman indulge in a careless love the man, a successful writer who cherishes his isolation; the girl, a very young, brash, uninvited guest. For a week as snow and ice cut them off from the outside world they dally, pursuing what might have been an inconsequential affair but for its effect on another member of the household,- the handsome Alsatian dog, Sylvie.
This is a spellbinding tale in which Jon Godden explores the growing tensions that arise when people thoughtlessly use and abuse the devotion that an animal gives. With instinctive understanding she is able to project the nature of a proud, free animal who belongs both to the land and to the human beings who are her masters.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1960

About the author

Winsome Ruth Key Godden was an English novelist who wrote under the name Jon Godden. She is the lesser known sister of author Rumer Godden. Although her work was praised by critics she was not interested in the commercial side of writing as she had a financially stable marriage. She spent most of her life in India; however when her marriage came to an end in 1957, she was forced to move back to family owned real estate in England where she remained until her death.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jon Godden’s A Winter’s Tale is an old book in more ways than one. Published in hardback in 1960, and apparently not reissued in any other editions, it was an Op Shop find, still with its original somewhat battered dust-jacket. I picked it up because I’d enjoyed the novels of the author’s more famous sister Rumer Godden, and I’d read the memoir Two Under the Indian Sun which was a collaboration by the duo. (Yes, another writing duo!) But the book is not just old in age, it’s old-fashioned in style. I can’t imagine anyone writing a story with this plot and characterisation today.

Jerome is a successful writer of plays and novels, living in a remote country house in the English countryside with his former batman Peter, who brings in additional income for the household by breeding orchids. Peter was disfigured by a shocking accident during the war, and since his wife left him he prefers to live an isolated life, venturing only to nearby farmhouses for supplies. Jerome needs peace and quiet to write, visiting London only occasionally to see his plays on opening nights, and to have casual, light-hearted affairs with a succession of women. No one has ever visited the house since Jerome bought it as a workplace. With only a magnificent Alsatian dog called Sylvie for company, they live together in contentment, Peter doing all the household drudgery, and Jerome writing his books and plays.

Into this apparently idyllic life blunders Una, a foolish young actress [sic] who fancies herself in love with Jerome. On the day that she arrives, a severe snowstorm makes the house snowbound, and the men are forced to give her shelter. Although she is ditzy and irritating, the inevitable happens and the dynamics in the house change, most notably regarding the dog. From being the sole focus of attention, Sylvie has to compete for Jerome’s affections with Una. Peter also resents Una’s presence and doesn’t try to hide it, and Jerome resents being challenged over his casual dismissal of a dog that is devoted to him.

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[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Godden sisters have a unique style. Well written, good character development, and a storybook written for just a small moment in time.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not quite the winter’s tale that I was expecting, and it’s a difficult one to write about without giving too much away, but I shall try …..

Imagine, if you will, a house set deep in the country, snowbound in the depths of winter. Two men live there. Jerome is an author, a novelist and a playwright, who needs the peace of the country and a country life to be able to write. It is his house, and Peter works for him. Peter who was his batman when the world was at war, who was horribly burned, and wanted to escape the stares of the curious, and to be occupied and busy.

The two men understood each other, and they each had the home and the lifestyle that suited them.

Sylvie, their young German Shepherd dog was their pride and joy. She had the freedom to roam in the surrounding woodland, and she knew that she was welcome to sit quietly with Jerome, as he worked in his study, or to settle with Peter in the warmth of the kitchen.

It was a household in perfect harmony, and Jon Godden demonstrated that so very well, simply by noticing the details of their home, and of what they said and did. She showed such a wonderful understanding of what made a house and a home, and of everyday human psychology.

That harmony, that balance, was upset by an uninvited guest. Una was a young actress, and she had set her sights on making a place for herself in Jerome’s world. He was reluctant to welcome her but her car was stuck in a drift, and her youth, her naivety, her greed for life quickly won over Jerome.

It didn’t win over Peter and Sylvie who were pushed away; Una didn’t like dogs, and she saw Peter as servant. It wasn’t that they were right and that Una was wrong; it was that they saw things differently, that they didn’t understand each other, and that Una was too young, too insensitive.

Peter understood the situation, he was prepared to bide his time, but of course Sylvie couldn’t.

A dog can’t understand why her master no longer has time for her, why her bed has been moved from her master’s bedroom to the landing, why the interloper has all so much of the attention that used to be hers …..

Una’s lack of understanding, her jealousy, her fear, lead to a terrible tragedy. But it wasn’t all her fault, not by any means.

Jon Godden winds up the tension slowly and steadily, with perfect care and attention to detail. I knew that something was going to break, and something – maybe. I almost knew and I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

This is the second domestic psychological novel – a clumsy term I know, but I can’t think of a better one – by Jon Godden that I have read, and I have to say that she was very good at them. She understood the importance of houses, how much it says about characters who called those houses home. And she understood how to tell a story to gradually reveal the full complexity of those characters. She wasn’t a comfortable writer, but she was a clever one.

And Sylvie’s story is as well told, as well understood, as the story of the thee humans. I had some minor concerns, but breeds are different, individual dogs are different, and it could well be no more than that. It is not a happy story, but it is an honest one, and the writing is always clear and none of the details are gratuitous.

Now I find myself torn between wanting to read more of Jon Godden’s work, because she was such a gifted and interesting writer, and being relieved that the library has no more of her books, because her stories are so very unsettling …..

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good novel, one that keeps you wondering where it will go, and Godden portrays the details of the characters quite realistically. My only complaint is I didn't think what the dog did in response to feeling rejected by her master was realistic at all. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I don't believe any dog would react in such an extreme way.

[Sylvie]

A dark, beautiful, and heart-breaking story. I has haunted me for years. Also, read "Lily and the Sparrows," a short story written by Jon Godden's sister, Rumer Godden. It, too, is unforgettable.