Critics' Opinion:
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Published Feb 2011
288 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
In the winter of 1928, still seeking some kind of resolution to the horrors of World War I, Freddie is traveling through the beautiful but forbidding French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Dazed, he stumbles through the woods, emerging in a tiny village, where he finds an inn to wait out the blizzard. There he meets Fabrissa, a lovely young woman also mourning a lost generation.
Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, Freddie will have unearthed a tragic, centuries-old mystery, and discovered his own role in the life of this remote town.
"This is a staunchly old-fashioned story, taking fully 100 pages to get moving, and by the time things pick up, the gist of the narrative will be obvious ... a gruel-thin story." - Publishers Weekly
"Evocative, atmospheric, and mysterious, Mosse’s ghostly tale is the perfect diversion for a chilly winter day." - Booklist
"Although Mosse's third novel isn't spooky enough to recommend to die-hard ghost story fans, finely drawn characters and an evocative setting make this a fine choice for lovers of historical and literary fiction." - Library Journal
"Mosse's prose has a gossamer quality well suited to the fantasy she spins." - Kirkus Reviews
"She plays a very simple, formulaic trick to bring the lives and remotely terrible deaths of ancient Pyrenean people very close to 21st-century English folk. And one is left feeling genuinely haunted – as though one of Mosse’s 13th-century peasants might at any moment pass through your house and casually remind you you’ve left the lid off the pickle." - The Telegraph (UK)
"The satisfying trademarks of Mosse's fiction are all in place in this romantic ghost story..." - The Guardian (UK)
"The Winter Ghosts, which began life as a novella for the Quick Reads campaign to encourage adult literacy, sees Mosse engaged in a more succinct mode of storytelling. This works particularly well in the opening chapters [but when] Mosse's interest in spirits, rather than spirituality, takes the upper hand that the link between the fallen of the Somme and long-ago heretics starts to feel a little far-fetched." - The Independent (UK)
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kate Mosse is the author of nine novels & short story collections, including the No 1, multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy - Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel - and No 1 bestselling Gothic fiction including The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist's Daughter, which she is currently adapting for the stage. Her books have been translated into 38 languages and published in more than 40 countries. She has also written three works of non-fiction, four plays, contributed essays and introductions to classic novels and collections.
A champion of women's creativity, Kate is the Founder Director of the Women's Prize for Fiction - the largest annual celebration of women's writing in the world - and sits on the Executive Committee of Women of the World. She was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to...
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