Review: Winter and Rough Weather by D.E. Stevenson

Thank you to Liz Dexter at Adventures in Reading... for her review that prompted me to buy this gem.

My Interest

“The hills were not really a very cheerful sight this morning for they were garlanded with scarves of trailing mist and it was raining gently and inexorably as if it never meant to stop.” (p. 26)

When I saw the review I was making my plans to read seasonally this year. A title like Winter and Rough Weather was perfect for that plan!

The Story

“It was as if some giant with a pukish sense of humor had taken his tablecloth and laid it lightly over the whole countryside…and what a gorgeous tablecloth it was! How it gleamed and glittered in the dazzling sunshine! Rhoda took her painting materials and went out to make a picture; it was too cold to sit for long of course by she could not resist the lure. She had intended her picture to be a study in Chinese white and sepia but she found that would not do; there were all the colors of the rainbow latent in the giant’s tablecloth….” (p.183).

Newlyweds James and Rhoda have taken a farm in the wilds of Scotland for their first marital home. They are somewhat well-heeled, if not in money at least in terms of background, education, and societal standing. (James mentions being in the first XI at Stowe). They have what would be called either a Maid of All Work or possibly a Cook-Housekeeper? I’m not sure. Rhoda is a talented painter, much in love with her husband, and happy to be out of London. Jim is learning farming, It is, post-war Britain, possibly January of 1947 from the weather. (The year the Royal Family went to South Africa during one of the worst winters in memory in the UK with fuel shortages everywhere). The local gentry has fallen on hard times and a nouveau riche person has gobbled up an estate nearby. Rhoda’s cook/housekeeper, “Flockie” has been let go from that estate that was “home” to her. The times are changing.

Lives, too are changing. Sir Andrew and Lady Shaw may not be able to host one hundred to dinner due to rationing and no servants to wait at table, but better times are ahead for several in the story. There are secrets to be discovered, a severe snowstorm to endure, and much more! And the secrets are so worthy of the story!

“Rhoda was getting to know this land and to make friends with it. In certain lights it was sad and lonely and cold but when the sun shone suddenly from behind a cloud the whole landscape smiled.” (p. 82)

My Thoughts

What a delight! Nothing icky, no bad language–how was this published? (Joke). I loved this book from start-to-finish. The tender way James and Rhoda were together, the nice way the boor was put in his place, and especially the way the secrets unfolded. This is a well-told story!

I did not realize until that this was not a sequel, but the last of a trilogy. No matter–it worked fine as a stand-alone. I also did not put together that this was the author of my beloved Mrs. Tim books. Duh! This publisher is bringing back older writers and keeping the Kindle price very reasonable, too. I will definitely be buying and reading more.

Winter and Rough Weather by D.E. Stevenson