Midwinter Break

Marriage. One thought I had half way through Bernard MacLaverty’s finely written novel titled, Midwinter Break, was that the author was accomplishing lots of things in very few pages, a quality I always appreciate. Things are not they appear as Irish retirees Gerry and Stella Gilmore leave their home in Scotland for a holiday in Amsterdam. MacLaverty captures with great skill the many ways in which long-married couples fall into patterns of behavior and do things that can be concurrently endearing and annoying. Habits and the reaction of a spouse to those habits can become the refining fire of a strong relationship or the consuming flame of a weakening one. Thanks to MacLaverty’s astute character development and finely written prose, we learn a lot about the habits in this marriage, the transforming events of their past, and the uncertainties ahead. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Midwinter Break from amazon.com.