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Sign up todayWintering
The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
Narrator
Rebecca Lee
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Length
6 hours 53 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“Katherine May uses 'winter' as a metaphor for life’s darker seasons in this poetic memoir about retreating from the demands and expectations of a pressuring society. She encourages the reader to explore the quiet and restorative moments in life that help us to grow, relax, and heal from difficult times. Lyrical, reflective, and comforting; this book is paired best with your coziest blanket and a hot cup of tea.”
— Courtney • Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers
Bookseller recommendation
“When we all started our own ‘winters’ in March, some of us were more prepared than others. May writes delicately of the struggles of life and the ways we may be able to prepare ourselves for such times, something I feel we all need to learn in order to survive the emotional winter that is a worldwide pandemic. Grab a cup of tea, find a cozy blanket, and burrow into this book of thoughtfulness and comfort.”
— Emma Warren • Oblong Books & Music
Bookseller recommendation
“When Katherine May set out to write her book, Wintering, she could not have foreseen that it would be published in the middle of a pandemic, nor that it would be so beautifully suited to our current circumstances. Wintering is the author's account of how she made it through unforeseen difficult times and depression (emotional winters). Gentle, understanding, hopeful, and empathetic, this is a book you will listen to and then want to buy a copy of, just so you can have it nearby for difficult times.”
— Mary • Skylark Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“I listened to Wintering with one foot in November and the other in December, just as winter weather was arriving where I live, and arguably the best time of year to read this book. In my circle of mentally ill friends and family—myself included—it seems like people have been preparing for winter more than usual this year (2021), trying their best to stave off seasonal depression and holiday overwhelm. I read this book in the hopes that it would help me face a particularly difficult winter, and it’s certainly got me thinking about the season in a new, more appreciative way. Katherine May talks not only of harsh winter weather, but of personal winters—dark seasons of life brought on by illness, tragedy, unexpected change. When we realize that our lives are cyclical much like nature and the lives of wild animals, it becomes easier to accept the seasons as they come rather than to fight against them. With Rebecca Lee’s sublime narration, May takes readers on a journey to the arctic and back, learning as much from herself as she does from others.”
— Mary • Raven Book Store
Bookseller recommendation
“This was the perfect listen at the right time. Memoir, mythology, and meditations on an ever ignored fact that we must change our lifestyle in order to adapt to this sometimes brutal season. I will definitely come back to this one many times.”
— Nichole • The Yankee Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“Listening to Wintering during these COVID-19 times was a balm to this reader's soul. A beautiful meditation on the benefit of rest and healing during the inevitable and necessary barren times of our lives. I loved how Katherine May wove literature, mythology, and science together with personal memoir. This is one that I know I will return to again.”
— Jessica • Main Street Books Davidson
THE RUNAWAY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Katherine May opens up exactly what I and so many need to hear but haven't known how to name.” —Krista Tippett, On Being
“Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself. . . . This is truly a beautiful book.” —Elizabeth Gilbert
"Proves that there is grace in letting go, stepping back and giving yourself time to repair in the dark...May is a clear-eyed observer and her language is steady, honest and accurate—capturing the sense, the beauty and the latent power of our resting landscapes." —Wall Street Journal
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, this is an intimate, revelatory exploration of the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down.
Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered.
A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.
Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.
Katherine May is the New York Times bestselling author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. A writer of both fiction and nonfiction, May has had journalism and essays appear in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Times (London), Good Housekeeping, and Cosmopolitan. She lives by the sea in Whitstable, England and is an avid lover of the outdoors.
Reviews
PRAISE FOR WINTERING“A beautiful, meditative book…It feels like Katherine May opens up exactly what I and so many need to hear but haven’t known how to name.” – Krista Tippett, On Being
“There is power and clarity and wisdom to be gained from accepting these difficult times. Wintering offered me empathy, acceptance and perspective that will stay with me long after the pandemic.” – New York Times
“Honest and deeply sympathetic...proves that there is grace in letting go, stepping back and giving yourself time to repair in the dark...May is a clear-eyed observer and her language is steady, honest and accurate—capturing the sense, the beauty and the latent power of our resting landscapes.” – Wall Street Journal
“Wintering succeeds in delivering a powerful, realtime account of what it is to experience life's inevitable winters — both literal and metaphorical — and come out on the other side. I can think of no more valuable voice to have in your ear as we stumble our way out of a pandemic and emerge from a collective wintering.” – Popsugar
“May writes beautifully….A contemplative, hopeful, consoling book.” – NPR
“Lovely...May is an astute observer of life’s emotional discouragements.” – New York Times
“A gorgeous book, a generous book, a layered book of uncommon sensitivity and substance…A splendid and soul-salving read.” – Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
“Drawing on her own life’s difficult periods, May offers a guide to leaning into fallow times and savoring the lessons of hardship.” – People Magazine Expand reviews
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