Road Out of Winter
Set in an Appalachian region trapped in an endless winter, the novel follows a young woman who can make things grow as she sets out to find her family and a place to belong. Climate collapse and violent communities drive both the survival story and her search for selfhood.
Work Information
In a world where spring never returns, the one thing she can make grow becomes her way forward.
An English-language novel from Mira. Through a young woman traveling through an Appalachian winter to find her family, it portrays life after climate collapse and the shape hope can take.
Review Summaries
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It is praised for pairing a desolate, violent landscape with strong empathy for its characters, turning the grim setup toward hope.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Mira Books
- Published
- 2020-09-01
- Pages
- 314 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.36 x 2.13 x 20.35 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780778309925
- ISBN-10
- 0778309924
- Price
- 3890 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Science Fiction & Fantasy/Science Fiction/Adventure
2021 winner of the Philip K. Dick Award A 2020 The Rumpus Book Club Selection “Blends a rural thriller and speculative realism into what could be called dystopian noir…. Profoundly moving.”— Library Journal , starred review In an endless winter, she carries seeds of hope Wylodine comes from a world of paranoia and poverty—her family grows marijuana illegally, and life has always been a battle. Now she’s been left behind to tend the crop alone. Then spring doesn’t return for the second year in a row, bringing unprecedented, extreme winter. With grow lights stashed in her truck and a pouch of precious seeds, she begins a journey, determined to start over away from Appalachian Ohio. But the icy roads and strangers hidden in the hills are treacherous. After a harrowing encounter with a violent cult, Wil and her small group of exiles become a target for the cult’s volatile leader. Because she has the most valuable skill in the climate chaos: she can make things grow. Urgent and poignant, Road Out of Winter is a glimpse of an all-too-possible near future, with a chosen family forged in the face of dystopian collapse. Both gripping and lyrical, Stine’s vision is of a changing world where an unexpected hero searches for where hope might take root. “Richly imagined, deeply moving and unthinkably offers hope in a world that uncannily resembles ours…. Gloriously well-written.” — Ms. Magazine And don't miss the next literary speculative novel from Alison Stine, TRASHLANDS, coming October 2021.
Alison Stine grew up in rural Ohio and now lives in Colorado. Her first novel, Road Out of Winter, won the 2021 Philip K. Dick Award. Her second novel, T rashlands, was long-listed for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. Recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, she has been published in The New York Times , The Atlantic , and elsewhere.
Reviews
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A well written book.
I picked up this book thinking I would read for just a few minutes. Hours passed. Alison Stine writes in such a way that before you know it and with little effort you are involved with the story of Wyl. True to life dialogue and a plot that would be easy to inflate into fantasy but in this book seems like it could happen tomorrow. The only thing I didn't like about Road Out of Winter was that the last page came too soon.
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Very enjoyable, thought provoking read
A totally enthralling novel with real topicality that leaps off the page. There's an excellent film here too.
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I loved Road out of Winter
I don't write reviews very often but I was so impressed with The Road Out of Winter, that I had to give it 5 stars. Wonderful writing, strong characters I could believe in, great descriptions aof a world gone cold. I could barely put the book down. My only complaint is that I wished I had read this in the summer time because it made me feel very cold. Oh and I wish it hadn't ended so soon. We need a sequel!! Not the most cheerful story but if you are a fan of distopia this is one of the best IMHO. Highly recommend.
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“Popular” and “literary”
Plot and premise aside (well covered in other reviews here), the pacing and elegance of this book’s ending blew me away. Pure poetry and well worth the read. If you equally enjoy both the camps of “popular” and “literary” fiction, this is one you need to pick up.
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the best kind of eco fiction, with character and heart
This novel's imagining of a dystopic future is specific and chilling--and grounded in exploring the effects of social and climate disaster on characters who are real and familiar, who are just like any of us. The novel is suspenseful; I read it quickly, drawn to start another chapter after finishing the one before. For that I was surprised by where it led me--not just to a climax of plot but one of character awakening and growth, for a feeling of my own heart and its capacity growing larger too.