The Winter People
Books | Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
3.9
(1.2K)
Jennifer McMahon
West Hall has always been a town of strange disappearances and legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who was found murdered in the field behind her house in 1908, a few short months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie, drove her mad. People say that Sara's ghost still walks after dark, and some leave offerings on their doorstep to keep her from entering their homes uninvited.Now, in present day, Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they remain on the fringes, living off the land without internet or outside interference. But one morning Ruthie wakes up to find that Alice has disappeared without a trace. When she searches the house for clues, she is startled to find a secret compartment beneath the floorboards that contains two objects. One, a gun. And two, a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary.The story the diary tells is one of a mother skating on the edge of sanity, willing to do whatever she can to bring her daughter back even if it means dabbling in dark and dangerous territory. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara's death, she discovers that she's not the only one looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
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More Details:
Author
Jennifer McMahon
Pages
384
Publisher
Doubleday Canada
Published Date
2014-02-11
ISBN
0385681461 9780385681469
Community ReviewsSee all
"Took me a minute to get invested, but once I got there, there was no going back. It's s roller coaster of a book. "
Mia Corkum
"used to be my favorite book growing up, very good mystery book"
Hayden Talley
"I thought this book was pretty good. I enjoyed the jumps between the two timelines; I think it contributed to fleshing out the story without introducing irrelevant details or making it messy. I was actually semi-surprised and pleased at there being a (mostly) happy ending. The main character showed decent growth over the course of the story, despite it only spanning a few days. My only critique is that I am unsure why the little sister was sick, it didn't really add anything to the story but was brought up a lot, and also why was she semi-psychic despite not being related to the original owner of the land (Sarah Shea, who was psychic) but the descendant of Shea didn't exhibit those properties? The little sister situation was the only unexplained/confusing part of it all, but with how complex the story is, I think that's pretty impressive"
Darya 🖤
"4.5/5
I reallv loved this one the atmosphere was great I also think this would be a great read for October; there is a creepy hunting feeling. I really enjoyed all the aspects of this book. It was so nearly five stars it just didn't give that 5-star feeling, but it was so so good. The cold, and dark, creepy setting was amazing, and the way the story played out was fascinating. I like how it was such an original story I couldn't see where it was going or what was going to happen. It felt like a podcast In a way like the author made the story sound like a real story or a conspiracy theory or just a real-life hunting story; it felt oddly so real. You follow timelines between now and back, and I loved that. I think that's one of the reasons the story felt so real, the last few I chapters had me on the edge of my seat. I really couldn't breathe for a
second there I was straight panicked. I was so satisfied with the way it wrapped up in the end."
Gizelle Villalta
"3.5 stars. Pet Sematary vibes. Gave me the chills. "
Dani 🧚
"I think The Winter People sat on my shelf for a little over a year. The description didn't sound super thrilling to me, so I kept putting it off. I was so wrong, and I was not bored at all. <br/><br/>This book is spooky! It's very well-written, and the multiple POVs are handled successfully. I stayed up way too late to finish this last night because I couldn't put it down. This book made me feel like someone was behind me multiple times 😂. I loved it, and it's perfect if you need a chilling read with an awesome story."
Emily
"Still up there for the spookiest book I’ve ever read. "
Laura Peterson
"9/10"
Nekka Poore
"Super interesting, I couldn't put it down. Gave me chills- :-)"
Cayden Severson
"A little slow for me, in whole i really like the story. I just wish for me there was more “scary” or “freaky” there were scenes where this book hit those notes for me. I’m starting to think i don’t enjoy Jennifer’s writing style as much as others and that’s okay. I would recommend this book to others, but i wouldn’t recommend it to people wanting to be more scared and looking over their shoulder. "
Stev Cass