Blackthorn Winter

by Sarah Challis

In April, when blackthorn blossom clothes the hedgerows like a wedding veil, there sometimes comes a spell of frost or snow so severe that it seems as if spring and summer will never return. This is what country people call a blackthorn winter.

For Claudia Barron, the blackthorn winter of that particular April is like a metaphor for her whole for the end of glamour, financial security and marriage. Her rich and powerful husband has been sent to prison, leaving her homeless and virtually penniless. Hopeless to cling to the remnants of her old life, pointless to stand by a man who has betrayed her in almost every way a man can betray a woman.

Instead she goes into hiding, buys the only house she can afford in the Dorset village of Court Barton - a hideous bungalow built in an old kitchen garden - and changes her name. Under a cloak of anonymity she sets out to get herself a job in the local school. But villages don't much like anonymity and before very long Claudia finds herself drawn into the gossip and the grumbling, the lives and loves and quarrels of Court Barton in a way that she had never expected. Blackthorn winters do always give way to spring in the end.

Genres: Fiction

345 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Sarah Challis, whose father is the distinguished cinematographer, Christopher Challis, travelled widely with film units as a child. She has since lived in Scotland and California but is now happily settled in a Dorset village with three rescued dogs and three chickens. She is married with four sons.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/s...

Reviews

[Sarah Messenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun story set in England. I enjoyed all the cast of characters. The description of the village and countryside was excellent.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

A predictable tale of a middle-aged woman trying to rebuild her life after her unfaithful husband goes to jail for embezzlement. The writing is average, but it's engaging enough and would have rated 3 stars if it wasn't for the tiresome stereotyping and painful class obsession. We have the frumpy, well-off, snobby 'lady of the manor', the womanising farmer, the 'tinker' family who are surprisingly well educated and knowledgeable, the 'tart with a heart' single-mum cleaner and her delinquent teenage son who miraculously transforms himself overnight... Challis also seems incapable of introducing a character without describing their weight and their class status, and after a while, it just got tedious. I also found some of the characters' behaviours decidedly odd. For example. the main character, Claudia is the daughter of a vicar and spends far too much time agonising over her divorce on the basis that she was brought up to view marriage as being for life...yet she has no issue having casual sex with one local guy while asking another to wait around for her while she makes up her mind as to whether or not she wants to marry him. I would have thought that the divorce would have been the least of her dad's worries...

[Siobhan Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

It's also not a book advent calendar if I don't read at least one book that has nothing to do with the holidays and just has winter in the title. This was a nice break from the winter romances I've been reading at least. The plot was interesting, and the characters were solid, although there were so many characters and so many subplots that at times it was hard to keep track. It ended well, although it felt like some things could have been better resolved (although I get why they weren't), but overall it was a decent read. I'm kind of shocked that with such a broad cast that this isn't a series, since books focused on some of the other characters would have made sense (and I might have actually read them).

[TwoDrinks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I surprised myself by enjoying this bit of fluff despite some of the silly names of characters and the hunting section (which I’m just not interested in nor have any knowledge of). There were points where I thought it was too descriptive or that the characters were stereotypical. There are a lot of posh country types in this book which I couldn’t relate to at all and found a bit dull. Lots of the characters are a large part of the book so it becomes more than just being about the central character. For some reason what really irritated me was the persistent mockery of the bungalow. On reflection the class issues in this book hit a nerve.

[Joann Jozwiak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am three quarters of my way through this book. I am sooo sick of these people. Almost all of them haven’t changed. I should have realized that if you dislike the main character from her first glimpse and after a hundred+ pages she hasn’t grown on you, then it’s going to take an unlikely change of character to make things better.
I have read two other books by this author and liked them very much. So, I have stuck with this one for almost 300 pages. But, I have a stack next to my bed that is sure to contain something better than this, and reading time is precious.

[Gill Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t get past the first few pages. Too many writers think that great prose needs a lot of adjectives. I just find it irritating and dull.

Good writers choose their words carefully and sparingly.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice easy read which moved along at a steady pace.

[Carol Flux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable story but good holiday read.

[Sally Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too British! 🤷🏻‍♀️ Not a bad story, just kind of boring.

[Helen Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Such a heartwarming story about reinventing yourself and what can be accomplished with community!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like stories that cover what's happening from several different viewpoints and enjoyed the cast of characters.
Claudia is trying to start over in a small English village, hoping no one will find out her former identity and judge her for someone else's actions. In spite of herself, she ends up interacting with neighbors and others while keeping up her guard as much as possible, a task made more difficult when her adult daughter & son also show up.
I'm looking forward to reading more of the author's books.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice fairly undemanding read - very different from Footprints in the Sand - the only other Sarah Challis I have read. The story is set mainly in a Dorsetshire village, and the description of village life is excellent - as I have never lived in a village like this I can't say if it's a realistic picture or not. We have the snooty woman at the big house, opening her garden to the public, and trying to keep up certain standards, the loudmouthed cleaner with a deliquent son, a young "tinker" girl who rides barebacked and whose father studies the hedgerows from an old bus they live in, are just some of them. Claudia comes to the village to escape, and begins work as a school cook. Soon she and her grown up children - who come to visit - are involved with many of the people from the village. However they have a secret - which of course is just waiting to come out.
I enjoyed this book, it's nicdly written, and the the descriptions of the English countryside are particularly lovely.

[Jirinka (sony08) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many details about too many characters and lacking in story line. I found the book very slow, with random descriptions of peoples feelings and histories and I nothing really happening until two thirds into the book. The best part was the last twenty or thirty pages. Disappointment after reading Killing Helen, which I really enjoyed.

[Jovdb · Rating 4 out of 5]

An audio book.

Not my usual genre but I really enjoyed this delightful book. At times I laughed out loud at the antics the characters got up to; the way that Julia could read her husband, Peter, so perfectly!

It was a good description of village life, how everyone has secrets, everyone knows everyone else's business but they pull together when it matters.

A jolly good story!

[Kathleen Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful Irish read! This was Sarah Challis' 2nd book and her first book was only published in Europe. Enchanting and fun. The local cast of characters in the village were fun. My English neighbor recommend it to me and I too shared my copy with friends until it became tattered.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favourite of her books (that I have read so far). Good believable characters & an interesting back story. Was a fairly accurate image of a southern English village. A good escapist read, not literature but solid, well written stuff.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book! Its a gentle page turner, a story of friendship and family which really draws you in. Ok, not a great deal happens, its not full of action, mystery or thrills and spills, but the characters are solid and if you like village settings, then this is for you.

[Christina Rochester · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't quite sure what to think of this book. I wasn't really drawn in by any of the characters or the story. However I did manage to find myself in tears twice; once when Skye died and the other when Jigs was badly injured.

[Paula R. C. Readman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the flow of this book. I've read Sarah Challis's books before and have enjoyed them. She is good at creating memorable characters and there are a great selection in this book.

I will be keeping my eyes open for another one of her books.

[Julie Buxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a rather challenging read. It is set in England, and written in proper English. Being an American, I am not all that familiar with English terms. The story itself is great. It's story about starting over, and not judging someone until you have a chance to know him/her.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy summer read for me. Could've been a little more exciting in the plot and I'm not sure every scene was necessary. Not a total waste of time.

[CLM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Innocuous story about a woman recovering from her husband first leaving her for a much younger woman, then being imprisoned for embezzlement. Others have done this better.

[Mary-Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit boring

[Charlie Trafford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable if not too demanding to read, not my usual 'village' type book and the story at times seems to go nowhere, but a light easy read for a summers day

[Jane Newey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read - good characters and nice tale

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, very enjoyable read. You really get to know and like the characters and get involved in their lives.

[Rebecca Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic array of dynamic characters, comforting country village setting. A curl up with hot chocolate book.

[JenniferB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very English manners set in Devon about a separated mother and her new start to life in a country village.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved reading Blackthorn Winter....good flow to the story and totally believable,

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourites by Sarah Challis (although I do like all of her books).