Ways to Hide in Winter

by Sarah St. Vincent

In a remote corner of Pennsylvania's Blue Ridge Mountains, a woman befriends a fugitive from Uzbekistan, setting in motion this suspenseful, atmospheric, politically-charged debut

After a freak car accident left her widowed, Kathleen has retreated to Pennsylvania's Blue Ridge Mountains, where she works in an isolated corner of the state park. There she meets a stranger who seems to be hiding from the authorities in his native Uzbekistan. As the violent secrets of their pasts unfold, the difference between good and evil proves more complicated than we might think . . . and a surprising final twist casts Kathleen in a new light altogether.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Literary Fiction, Adult

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2018

About the author

Sarah St.Vincent grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended Swarthmore College, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan Law School. As a human rights attorney, she has advocated for survivors of domestic violence and currently researches national security and surveillance for Human Rights Watch. She lives in New York City.

(source: Amazon)

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gorgeous Blue Ridge mountains in Pennsylvania provide a perfect place for Kathleen to hide and attempt to heal herself.Taking care of her elderly, ill grandmother, estranged from her parents, she has few friends. A horrible accident has left her with many scars, screws and other pieces of metal, how she survived is a mystery. As is what actually happened to her, her now dead husband and their lives. She works at a small, infrequently visited store and grill, and it is here that she meets the stranger. A young man hiding, on the run from the authorities in Uzbekistan. Their ensuing friendship will profoundly and emotionally bring changes into their lives.

This is a slow burner of a book, the more one reads, the more one is drawn into the story. Disclosures are made at the right times, and bring the reader closer and closer to the truth. It blurs the line between good and evil, connects the lines between abuses of the personal and those perpetuated by a government. I admit after finishing, turning once again to the wise and knowing wiki, to read about the human rights violations and terror that have happened in Uzbekistan. Happening in so many countries, but also in so many homes. Each leave tragedy, sorrow, and pain in it's wake, scars mentally and physically, the only difference the scale of the event.

The tone is melancholy, lonely, as two strangers from very different places connect, and begin to tell their stories. Hidden, places to heal, no expectations, strangers who owe nothing to each other. A fantastic read for a book discussion, so many issues, many things to debate. The ending, for me, a total surprise.

ARC from Melville House.

[☮Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a perfect companion on these chilly winter-like days of late. It is a multi-faceted debut, with much to make you wonder about as the story progresses. It has a quiet, contemplative mood, and the beautiful descriptions of a park area in the mountains of Pennsylvania make it broadly atmospheric. After easing us gently into the setting and as the characters become better acquainted and formed, the author unveils political overtones and hints at past secrets to compel the reader forward hopefully to answers.

Kathleen is a young widow, a survivor of the car crash that killed her husband. Now living with her grandmother and working at a store in the state park campground, it seems her life hasn't been easy, she is lonely, and has issues with fully trusting anyone except two or three others. Enter a dark stranger whose soft, hesitant voice has a Russian accent. Actually he is an immigrant from Uzbekistan, having left a wife and who knows what else behind. He too is lonely and untrusting, so they begin to form a friendship. He reveals his secrets which in turn forces Kathleen to confront her own. She tries to help the stranger. From there on you will need to find out for yourself what happens to him and Kathleen's motives for her actions.

Many themes here and I don't want to reveal them all because it's best to let the plot do that. People capable of violence, forgiveness, kindness -- we have both light and darkness within, the author seems to say. I do have questions about the very last pages but I think I will ignore them and not let an otherwise compelling read be spoiled. If I owned a hard copy I would probably rip those final pages out as they served no apparent purpose at all for me.

The narrator, Sarah Mollo-Christensen picked up on the general sadness and solitude of Kathleen and conveyed that to me in her quiet, unemotional narration. There are not a lot of characters in the book, but she was able to give them all a unique voice and a flawless delivery.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s not a whole lot going on in this book, especially at the beginning, and the characters are few; they are rather quiet and lonely souls, secluded from the mainstream, and are well worn or worn down. However, in time, so much more is revealed about the inner secrets of these people, the magic and beauty of the mountains as well as their sinister, deep, dark voids. The characters all reveal choices that they’ve made in their lives (good and bad) or choices that were made for them either by others or their situations.

The story location is in a remote, small town area in the mountains of Pennsylvania. It is a town that is not well off, financially, nor are most of its residents.

At first I did not realize what this book’s main thrust was until it was confirmed in the end, however, I’m not spoiling anyone’s reading experience by revealing more of the storyline. This truly is a slow burn and the reader needs to pay attention sometimes to read between the lines.
There was a different writing style to this book which some readers may or may not like. Try it.

[Book Concierge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Digital audio narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen

A young widow is trying to recover from her own trauma by working in a remote state park deep in Pennsylvania’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Kathleen is fine, she insists, and happy to be left alone. But when a stranger with a heavy accent comes into the store/lodge where she works flipping burgers she is intrigued. He says he’s a student from Uzbekistan, but he’s clearly unprepared for the winter conditions in the park. To Kathleen, Daniil seems shell-shocked, almost terrified, clearly hiding from someone or something.

This is a tightly written, marvelous psychological / political thriller. The characters are skittish, guarded, and yet reveal themselves by their actions. Kathleen and Daniil recognize in one another a certain similarity – both are running from the truth, both profess to need solitude even a way to hide away, and yet both want desperately to confide and reveal their pain and their hopes. They both crave and fear connection. It’s difficult to believe that either of them will ever achieve happiness; their pasts are just too traumatic.

This short novel includes some major issues: domestic abuse, drug addiction, military and political intrigue / espionage. The landscape is practically a character, and adds to the feeling of isolation, loneliness and imminent danger. The reader is kept in suspense to the very end.

Sarah Mollo-Christensen does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. I particularly liked the way she voiced Daniil and Martin.

[Jerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book deals with the difficult and complex task of forgiveness. People do bad things. Sometimes, they do really bad things. But life has no do-overs. Instead of focusing on how to forgive yourself, the focus here is how you see others after you know the bad things they have done. How do you forgive or ignore the past and move forward today?

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This novel came to my attention as the winner of the 2019 Pinckley Prize for a Debut Novel, which is administered by a local group. Though not a ‘typical’ crime novel (which is one reason I read it), it is suspenseful, though that suspense is mostly in finding out how a past accident occurred. In a tweet the author herself says she is “particularly moved that her novel about domestic violence was chosen for this crime fiction award. Because abuse is indeed a crime.” Of course I agree with that; even as a child, I wondered why “domestic violence” was separated from other crimes of violence.

Besides the theme of domestic violence, the other thread of the book is the use of torture by government entities. The Russian stranger from Uzbekistan that the damaged narrator meets in the first pages holds secrets and scars as well. Rumors of torture swirl around the remains of a WWII secret POW Interrogation Camp (http://www.schaeffersite.com/michaux/) near where the narrator works in a Pennsylvania state park.

By novel’s end we’re not sure where the narrator is going, or what she’s doing, but I remain affected by her resilience and complexity. The book would be a great one for a discussion group.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was intense! Really well done: thoughtful, complex, and compelling. It didn't have any of the trendy tricks of today's psychological suspense (unreliable narrator, "ooooh, she's been talking to dead people!" or the painfully obvious cinematic climax). Just pure character-driven conflict: how can you come to terms with another person's darkest impulses, their irrational actions, their fears, their murky motives? Kathleen is the center of gravity, and I mean gravity! She's the victim of domestic abuse, battling an incipient opioid addiction, and is saddled with the painful secrets of a mysterious exile from Uzbekistan that make her physically sick. The one bright spot in her life is her best friend Beth. And that was the one thing I found disappointing. Kathleen rescues herself, but in fleeing, she leaves Beth behind. We can only hope it's temporary because their relationship is special, and Beth needs her. There's a lot to mull over here, certainly enough to spur a lively book club discussion.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong four star read. I found this book on a search to satisfy a task in a reading challenge, but I’m so glad that I did, as I’d probably have never read it otherwise.

From the start, we know that our young female protagonist is living with the after effects of a serious injury. Within the first few pages, we also meet another character, a male foreigner she thinks of as ‘the stranger’. We know he is hiding something, but we don’t know what. Clues are slowly revealed about both of these characters throughout, so that most every question is answered by the end.

It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel. This was published in 2018. The author is a human rights attorney with an impressive educational background, and it shows. I loved the first half of this book, and looked for more by the author, with no success. The second half became quite a bit darker as we learn more about both characters, both of whose backstories have some difficult, if not brutal, moments.

If you’re looking for an immersive weekend (or less) read, it’d be hard to go wrong with this one. Very hard to put down from the halfway point, especially. The audio performance was also well done, and is available on Libby. I hope we see more from this author.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slow-burn story starts in a scarcely populated mountain stopover in the off-season. First we are introduced to Kathleen, who seems to be suffering from something in her past. Then a mysterious man appears. Midway details are revealed about the man and also about the Kathleen's history with domestic abuse (the topic the author set out to explore, so definitely avoid if triggering for you.) There are some questions raised but not answered by the author that could have disturbing conclusions (nature of evil, etc.) Setting is great, cold and isolated.

I got this from the publisher in eARC form via Edelweiss. I'm a little behind in reading it as it came out November 6.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the more ominous characters in this bleak book observes early on that "just because you're used to this place don't mean it ain't dangerous" (p. 30). And what if the narrator, one of those moved used to her place, is badly damaged goods, both physically and emotionally? How she is damaged is parsed out slowly, and against the background of several kinds of treachery: that of her husband, her parents, her church, her drug dealer, and her most recent neighbor, a refugee/fugitive from Uzbekistan who lives/hides in the hostel up the hill from her job. And then there are the issues posed by the former WWII POW camp, where prisoners were tortured for information, and the grave site of a failed family, represented by a local-originated sign near the US park in which at least three people died.

St. Vincent writes very well about what emotional isolation born out of a dangerously abusive marriage (even worse than her grandmother's) can do to someone trapped in a declining area (NW Pennsylvania). The book ends with a story about an injury to Kathleen's brother's foot, and who came to his aid besides Kathleen that plugs into her complicated memories of her grandfather. Like an earlier moment when she runs out onto the center of a dangerous idea-over lake, the story is striking, troubling, deep, and bleak with a faint trace off light. I'll think about this book for a while, though some of it eludes me.

[Jessica Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Beautiful places are just like anywhere else. People still suffer.”

This is an incredibly nuanced literary thriller that relies on complex human dynamics instead of the typical gimmicks that have come to be expected from this genre. I absolutely loved it.

Following an accident that killed her husband and left her seriously injured, Kathleen lives a simple, quiet life in her hometown of rural Pennsylvania. One day, a stranger shows up at the small store where she works: a man from Uzbekistan who is clearly on the run from something.

Kathleen develops a friendship with the stranger in spite of her apprehensions, and over time comes to learn his secrets while also finally confronting truths about her own past.

All of this unfolds amid the backdrop of the stark rural landscape, and St. Vincent does an excellent job creating a vivid sense of place. The moral ambiguity is foreshadowed by discussions that Kathleen and the stranger have about Dostoevsky in the beginning pages.

The characters in this novel exist in a gray area between good and bad. They do what they think is right at the time, and suffer the consequences of their misjudgments. They attempt to overcome the chasm between who they want to be and who they really are by seeking redemption and companionship in the unlikeliest places.

[debra]

Very well written, and I was definitely drawn in, but something was missing for me, and I don't know what it was. It varied from 3-5 *s. Diane S wrote an excellent review for this one. (Duh, she writes an excellent review for everything she reviews) Thank yous galore, Diane S

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen works as the sole employee of a small convenience store in a national park in the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania. She's effectively hiding out; living in her hometown but spending all of her time at the store, which is frequented only by hikers and hunters, or at home, where she lives with her grandmother. Occasionally, her best friend can get her out for a few hours, but she insists she's content, recovering from the accident that took her husband's life. At the tail end of the season, when even the hunters are becoming scarce, a man shows up at the hostel next to the store. He's from Uzbekistan and clearly hiding from someone.

This is a difficult book to describe. It's almost a thriller, but more of a character study and exploration of culpability and our responsibilities to each other, combined with a vividly described setting. The author has used her background to write a very well put together story that touches on the political situation in Uzbekistan and domestic violence.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humane and—in spite of some intense violence—gentle novel that explores the growing friendship between a young widow and a refugee from Uzbekistan, each side of the relationship framed by the the punishing load of secrets they both carry, all set against the winter landscape of rural Pennsylvania. But aside from its very deliberate thriller-like pacing as those secrets slowly unfurl, the book is more substantially concerned with exploring themes of guilt, forgiveness, loneliness, concealment, and the large and small ways people harm each other. This is one of those books that prove the point that reading fiction can make you a more compassionate person—it grapples with some hard issues of personal culpability and doesn't return pat answers (or any answers, really).

The writing here is low-key, appropriately atmospheric, and for the most part well done, though foreshadowing is some dicey business and needs to be done with a lighter touch. But overall the novel was moral in an un-preachy fashion that I appreciate in fiction, and St. Vincent kept it honest enough to keep me engaged.

[Kurt Kemmerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning exploration of domestic abuse, recovery, human frailty, family history and the ways it repeats itself, all meshed with similar concerns regarding the larger world and its governments. Somehow, St. Vincent put it all together and made it work with incredible craft.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quickly told but compelling story, reminiscent of things like "Summer of My German Soldier" with a modern twist

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ways to Hide in Winter is an extraordinary find in one of my daily book feeds. The cover and title both hit me in the eyes - in the best way for a reader.

Kathleen is managing a store/eatery in a park near the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's winter and business is slow. The reader can tell Kathleen's been injured and is recovering, but she still is in a lot of pain. During a "business as usual" day, a stranger comes in just as Kathleen's getting ready to close. She can't turn him away. He's got a heavy accent she can't quite place. He's not dressed for the weather and looks as though he's worn out. She offers to feed him and give him a room at the hostel even though the person who runs the hostel is traveling.

This starts the story of how Kathleen is injured, why she lives with her grandmother, who is the stranger and most importantly, asks the question, what would you do if faced with what she's been faced with in her life? Would you give shelter to a stranger whose intentions aren't clear? How far would you go to prove what people thought about you wasn't right?

This is a profound novel. It touches on issues that rile me as well as issues that make me think about what sort of stand I would be willing to take if I happened to be in the same situation. At 225 pages it could have been a quick read. I didn't want it to be quick. I wanted to savor the writing, the winter, the characters, the issues, the story. Magnificent.

[Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen is still only in her 20s, but she feels like an old woman most of the time. Ever since her husband’s death in a car accident that also left her deeply wounded (and addicted to the opioids she used to manage her chronic pain), she spends most of her days alone, moving as little as possible and keeping to herself. Kathleen works at a small convenience store in a state park near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, serving up ice cream and hamburgers to hunters and hikers on the Appalachian Trail, which runs nearby. She has had a falling-out with her parents and lives with her grandmother, a bitter woman whose progressing emphysema has failed to convince her to quit smoking.

Kathleen is lonely, but she doesn’t seem to mind; she has one good friend --- a military wife who struggles with loneliness and abandoned ambitions --- and spends much of her time reading and avoiding thoughts of the past. But a mysterious stranger who arrives at the store reluctantly pulls Kathleen out of her torpor and prompts her to refresh those uncomfortable memories.

The stranger, whose name is Daniil, is a Russian who has spent his adult life in Uzbekistan. He is cagey about what brought him to this remote part of Pennsylvania or when he intends to leave. What’s clear, though, is that whatever plans were in place to pick him up have fallen through, since he essentially has been abandoned with no money, few supplies and almost no resources to make it through the coldest part of the winter.

Kathleen sets Daniil up with a room at a nearby hostel, also located within the park. As the winter progresses, the two begin to find common ground through their shared interest in books and chess. But when officials start poking around asking questions, Kathleen is compelled to ask more specific questions about Daniil’s complicated past; likewise, what she learns about him dredges up her own painful memories.

When Kathleen first meets Daniil, she’s reading Dostoevsky’s CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Their discussion of the moral ambiguities of that book set the stage for the complex ethical questions at the heart of the rest of the novel. Readers will grapple along with Kathleen as she contemplates how cruelty can coexist with kindness, why family would choose to turn their backs on one another, and when it’s permissible to offer grace and forgiveness --- and when it’s not.

Sarah St.Vincent, who comes from a background in human rights law enforcement and advocacy, skillfully interweaves these issues into her novel. She successfully shines a light on the horrific violence that is often perpetuated in the most secret places --- from hidden POW camps to underground prisons to the private homes of ordinary Americans. Although the book exposes the absolute worst of human nature, it also offers glimpses of redemption and forgiveness, especially in the relationship of the hostel owner to his new tenant and to Kathleen.

WAYS TO HIDE IN WINTER is one of those novels that should be discussed among readers, as its stark juxtaposition of political and domestic violence offers so much space for catharsis and debate alike.

Reviewed by Norah Piehl

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4+ stars. Beautiful descriptive writing with a protagonist adept at both knowing and lying to herself— mystery story unfolds as she unfolds her own painful story to be resolved. The author is a human rights attorney and currently researches national security and surveillance for Human Rights Watch.

[Jeimy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I was going to love this book. I was riveted by the remote setting, the menacing characters that were always on the periphery, and the secrets that led the two main characters to escape to these remote woods. However, the ending was a disappointment and while I found everything else thoroughly enjoyable, the ending ruined the rest of the experience for me.

[Martha☀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Pennsylvania, people hide for all manner of reasons. Kathleen has found a spot here where no one is going to question her about her limp, her dependence on prescription narcotics, her estranged family or her past. She quietly passes the seasons working in a small store/grill along the Appalachian Trail and taking care of her reluctantly aging grandmother. Kathleen is not the only one who seeks solitude. As winter approaches, a stranger shows up at the store looking for the small backpacker hostel and Kathleen goes out of her way to show him the trail, noting that he is completely unprepared for the upcoming winter and then keeping an eye out for him over the next few days. Her kindness continues in small ways - a cup of coffee, a repurposed winter coat - and he warms to her as if he has never been shown such hospitality before.
Eventually he reveals that he is a student from Uzbekistan but little else. With both characters keeping their cards close, we have to wait for St. Vincent to reveal their truths by building up anticipation for about half the novel. Most of that anticipation comes through in the setting - a lonely, quiet and chilling place where everyone seems to be hiding their true agenda.
When all is revealed and Daniil turns out to be a government minister responsible for war crimes in his home country, Kathleen is torn between feeling outrage at who he was and feeling affection for who he is trying to be. It forces her to face the reasons that she has chosen to go into hiding herself. It also causes her to think for herself, rather than listening to gossip, here-say or media. A breath of fresh air these days.
It seems to me, as I write this review, that the novel was deeper psychologically than I thought at the time. Perhaps that is what other reviewers refer to as a 'slow-burn' (used in 90% of reviews I looked at!). But I was struck by the frustrating lack of depth and worldliness that supposedly university-educated Kathleen showed, especially in her conversations with Daniil, who was eloquent and polite. I liked him and his thoughtfulness right from the first meeting.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little slim novel full of atmosphere and thematic elements. One brief winter, a few months of cold in the remotest place in Pennsylvania, with a stranger and some secrets. Great stuff, especially if you can get under a blanket and keep a cup of tea by your side.

At heart is Kathleen, and a bit next to the heart is the stranger, though regardless of the premise I couldn't bring myself to care as much for him as for her. Her pain rings out the loudest and drowns everything else, and her backstory is dribbed-and-drabbed throughout skilfully enough that I kept wanting to stay in the game and see her fleshed out.

There's a lot traced through, light touches of grim nonfiction that impart a little flavor of… something, added in the mix. These themes sort of feel right — the POW camp, the road sign, Abu Ghraib — but I think in practice they performed a tad vaguely. Ultimately, it felt a little slight for me, and I wished the characters' discussions were a bit less on the nose philosophically. But it's a good one, I'm glad I read it, and there's some properly haunting stuff in there that I'm still thinking about.

In a lot of ways, especially setting and style and an emotionally withered shopkeeper protagonist recovering from a brutal injury (I mean… !), it reminded me of another slim debut novel about a cold remote place I read called Echolocation . If either one of these books rang your bell, I'd strongly recommend the other.

[Ana María · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In the end, I found it hard to imagine what else I could have been. And yet, I would stand at the window, feeling somehow as though the person I had been, some essential part of myself, were floating away, and that there was nothing I could do to stop it. It spun itself out from the center of me like the unwinding string of a kite, receding farther and farther, growing smaller and smaller against the sky. Deep down, I knew I shouldn’t let it go. But I never imagined how dangerous my life would become when it was gone."

[Lynn Pribus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely written book with an easy to understand reader (on iPod). Leisurely delivered, yet with an undercurrent of suspense. Takes place near a historical POW camp in Pennsylvania (I Wikipedia-ed it after finishing the book) in a remote little community, although said camp is only significant in a metaphorical way.

Interesting relationships well developed including the female narrator, her boss, the mysterious male foreigner and other members of the community.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

the crux of this story is the parallel between an informer in an ex soviet republic and a woman in a terribly abusive relationship. at first my response is to recoil from the comparison as the former is morally ambiguous at best and the latter unquestionable victimized. but after another thought, it's not about the social perspective or the moral perspective at all, but the fear, the shame, the hurt.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a taut, sensitive novel that demands attention to its quiet details. The novel examines its subject from every angle, weaving prisoners of war and refugees and opioid addiction and domestic violence and rural poverty into one beautiful narrative.

[Debra K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and throughout felt I would give it 4 stars when I finished but the end fell flat. Almost like the author tired of writing and just stopped.
Very odd way to end with a couple paragraphs that had no connection to the story at all.
Was disappointed in that.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Mary Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written, touching and powerful suspense novel that I couldn’t put down. This is the author’s debut...I hope she has another in the works!

[Julie Stauss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story shows the cruelty we can inflict on others but also kindness to a stranger. It kept mentioning the accident never really explaining until the end. Definitely kept me reading!