2017-March - A Place Called Winter

A Place Called Winter              -             Patrick Gale

This is the story of a young man of independent means – Harry Kane- who following the death of his parents and a private education leads a rather aimless life until he drifts into marriage with Winifred. He meets her through his brother who is courting her sister. Harry is second best for Winifred as she still loves a man considered unsuitable by her family. This is her explanation for her initial reluctance to consummate the union. They do, however, eventually have a daughter.

Life changing events then occur:

·         Harry seeks treatment for his stammer from a speech therapist with whom he falls in love and engages in a homosexual affair at a time when this was both illegal and socially unacceptable.

·         He is persuaded by his brother in law to invest heavily in a share scheme and loses a significant proportion of his fortune.

·         His homosexuality is discovered and he is persuaded by his wife's family to emigrate to avoid a scandal and to rebuild his fortunes. He chooses to go to Saskatchewan in Canada where portions of land are allocated freely, providing that this is settled appropriately within 3 yrs.

·         On the journey he is befriended by a Danish 'agent' – Troll – who subjects Harry to a vicious rape before delivering him to a farmer who undertakes to teach Harry about farming for a year before he settles his own land.

·         Once on his land, he meets his neighbours a brother and sister - Paul and Petra – who live on the adjoining property. They help him to build his house and fence his land. He begins to plough and plant with Paul's help.

·         Winifred asks for a divorce on the grounds of abandonment, so she can marry her first love.

·         During a swim after a hot harvest day he embarks on a homosexual affair with Paul. This is instigated by Paul but becomes a real love affair. Petra knows about it and seems to be happy with the situation.

·         WW1 begins and Paul goes off to fight and doesn’t return. Troll reappears and rapes Petra leaving her pregnant. Harry marries her and she moves into his home. But the 2019 flu epidemic claims both Petra and the child and Harry has a mental breakdown.

·         Following his inappropriate overtures to soldiers on a train, Harry is admitted to a mental asylum and subsequently an alternative treatment centre where he makes friends with a suicidal transvestite native Canadian Indian.

·         He is eventually returns to his land. Paul returns. They live their unconventional lives by opening up the fencing between their properties. Harry is also reconciled to some extent- by letter- with his younger brother

Most of us found this a good read although the subject matter did not appeal to all. We enjoyed the descriptions of pioneering life in 1908 Canada – although Peter tells us that they do not accord with his own family's experience 30 years later.

Oonagh had researched Patrick Gale's account of how he came to write the book based on the life of his great-grandfather, but was irritated by the lack of evidence that this ancestor was in fact gay!

Mary asked whether we thought that this was a love story. When we considered Harry's   various relationships we concluded:

·         - He loved the speech therapist but for the latter this was just a physical relationship

·         - He loved the daughter born of his marriage of convenience to Winifred.

·         - He certainly loved Paul and when he thought he was lost in the war he was devastated.

·         - He was fond of Petra and acted very honourably in marrying her.

We also explored some of the issues associated with the theme of homosexuality in the book. Patrick Gale states (thanks Oonagh) that for him the challenge of the book was to 'inhabit a homosexual life at a time when there were no words to describe being gay'.

It is hard to fully understand in 21^st century Britain what it must have been like to be homosexual at a time when it was a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. This is a difficult theme for some members of our group and we recognise that we each  bring our own perceptions, beliefs and life experiences to anything that we read and these in turn affect  our enjoyment and perception of a piece.

Having said that, there was general sympathy for Harry who's early life without close parental guidance possibly influenced some of what happened to him later. We also held sympathy for Petra who devoted her early life to protecting her brother and was later subjected to such a violent rape by Troll. There was also sympathy for the troubled transvestite Little Bear. His situation gives an insight into the way he might have been ostracised by his own people for his sexual preferences.

There was however no sympathy for Troll whose violent behaviour towards both men and women marked him out to us as wholly evil.

In conclusion the group agreed that the book was well constructed and well written, with some beautiful and some shocking descriptive passages. The characters were exceptionally well drawn and wholly believable.

Marks ranged from 5 to 7 – Average