Book: Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip
Published: 1997
Book Trope: Tam Lin
Rating: 8.5 of 10
The Plot:
Rois is the herb-woman of the village, knowing the woods in-and-out. Her elder sister Laurel is the practical one, caring for the family. Come spring, she will marry her childhood sweetheart. But autumn is here first. It brings back Corbet, the long-forgotten heir to the Lynn estate bordering the woods. A disastrous love affair follows: both sisters fall for Corbet, who seems to be under a generations-long curse.
My Thoughts:
Trust McKillip to take the old Tam Lin legend, and turn it on its heel, give it a makeover unlike any other version! Almost, almost, the suspense is unbearable. In fact, it’s a choke-hold: What is the true nature of Corbet’s curse? Why is he back? Which sister does he really love? Can Rois save Corbet? Will she want to save him, even if he doesn’t love her back and has literally destroyed her family? There were moments I grew to hate Corbet. Corbet is helpless against the tide of the curse, against the pull of the fey woods. I understood that, and I pitied him, but I also hated him.
The other thing that McKillip does so well is to mix these supernatural elements with the daily ordinary, so that it all becomes entirely too possible. It’s possible to fall into an other world and think it a dream. It’s possible to find odd marks on the grassfloor and think it the pawprints of a magical creature. It’s possible to lose your way in the forest and call it sleepwalking. You will never know the whole answer, and it will keep you wondering long after the riddle is forgotten.
That’s McKillip for you.
The wood darkened; the winds poured from every direction, not wintry yet, still carrying scents of ripe apple, blackberry, warm earth. But they sang of storm and bare branches and cold, shriveled days. They were the harvest winds; they came to carry away the dying, sweep the earth for the dead. I had never heard them so clearly before; they seemed to have their separate voices, each wind its separate shape. I huddled in the leaves beside the well, watching the world darken, the moon rise slowly above the trees, leaves flying like flocks of birds across it.
17 replies on “Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip”
Oh my gosh, I love the sound of this! And can we talk about that cover? I really like it too. The owl, the colors, the flowers!
I agree on both. Very pretty cover and intriguing tale.
It really was the cover that drew me first. Then I learnt of the Tam Lin elements, and knew I had to read it!
McKillip is one of my all-time favorite fantasy authors. I love all her books. 🙂
I still have to read many of her other books (and it’s wonderful she has such a huge backlist). I have only read Changeling Sea, Riddlemaster of Hed series, Shadow in Ombria and Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
Nice review! I read this book a long time ago, but I had forgotten how much I liked the character interactions until reading your thoughts.
It was so very gripping! Earlier, I would keep putting it off, thinking this was a tragedy… But I shouldn’t have doubted McKillip, so glad I gave this a try.
I think I tried McKillip once- Forgotten Beasts of Eld?- but I didn’t finish it. Not cause it wasn’t good but I don’t think I was in the right headspace or whatever. Oh wait now that I think of it I did read her Riddlemaster of Hed series. Loved those.
I always like the herbalism angle
Riddlemaster of Hed is awesome. It’s so tense, you want to hit something and get it over with. Not sure if I expressed that correctly (er, without sounding too violent)? Anyways, I like the Hed series much better than Forgotten Beasts of Eld!
(Lack of) concentration has been an issue for me the past week or so. I haven’t felt like reading or blogging so I’ve been going through my GoodReads TBR and adding the books to my digital library wishlist (My GR list pre-dates my e-reader by years.) This is one of the books I added years ago and completely forgot about! And luckily my library has it. I’ll have to remember to get to it sooner rather than later.
I can totally understand that. The whole of March was this giant reading/ blogging slump for me, and I just couldn’t get what was going on. Signing up for a few challenges forced me to tackle my TBR, and hence this book. I think you’d like it, based on the books I’ve seen you review before.
This is a book that I’ve promised myself I’ll read – and who knows – one day I will make good on that promise. Lovely review.
Lynn 😀
I hope you will. 🙂 It has a wonderful background story of the love between two sisters, which I thought was the most touching part of this book.
Hmm, now I am curious about the old Tam Lin legend!
It is my all-time favorite trope. If you’re interested in Tam Lin, do start with Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Pope. It won the Newbery long back, and is set in England during the 1500s.
I LOVED The Forgotten Beasts of Eld! So I need to track down more books by this sophisticated, clever writer – thank you for your inspirational review reminding me of her:)).
You’re very much welcome. McKillip is really amazing, and I love how you’ve described her. I am trying to read through her backlist too, thankfully she’s written so many wonderful books!