The Heart of Winter

A Novel

De: Jonathan Evison

Narrado por: Kimberly Farr

A Seattle Times Bestseller

One of The Washington Post’s 10 Noteworthy Books for January

One of The Los Angeles Times’ 10 Books to Add to Your Reading List in January

One of The Seattle Times’ 24 Books to Look Out for in 2025

One of Kirkus' Best 20 Books to Read in January

The extraordinary new novel by Jonathan Evison, about a married couple in their golden years, from when they met across big ups, deep downs, and survive-it-all, opposites-attract love

Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together—at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a seventy-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador, Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and from their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged.

But when Ruth’s loose tooth turns out to be something much more malicious, the beautiful, reliable life they’ve created together comes to a crisis. As Ruth struggles with her crumbling independence, Abe must learn how to take care of her while their three living children question his ability to look after his wife. And once again, the couple has to reconfigure how to be there for each other.

In this bighearted and profound portrait of a marriage, Jonathan Evison explores seventy years of big moments in subtle ways, elegantly braiding the Winters’ turbulent history with their present-day battles, showing us how the oddly paired college kids became parents, fell apart and back together, and grew into the Abe and Ruth of today. Endlessly heartwarming and moving, The Heart of Winter is a reminder that true love lives in small, everyday moments.

©2025 Jonathan Evison (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Jonathan Evison, the brilliant American storyteller, has written a novel for the ages. Abe and Ruth Winter are in a long marriage, having experienced all the joy and pain that comes from living in a lifelong partnership. Ruth is a resplendent character, a mother and wife with dreams of her own, while Abe has to reinvent himself when the worst happens. Love, forgiveness and redemption built the soul of this story. A must read."—Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left Undone

“One of our very best writers, Evison expertly details the hopes and dreams, sacrifices and tragedies of family life.”–Bill Kelly, Booklist (starred review)

“A savvy portrait of love and devotion. . . . [Evison] affords this aging couple a dose of realism and dignity that’s often lacking in novels.”–Kirkus (starred review)

A beautiful story about a lifetime love

A beautifully written and beautifully performed. This will be in my top reads of 2025.

Beautiful Love Story

I loved every aspect of this glorious novel. Perhaps it’s my past middle age status but I honestly would have loved this book at any age.

Such a beautiful story!

You will experience every feeling, love all the characters, and wish the book never ended.

Wow!

Dating,marriage,,parenting, pivotal moments with characters and events that touch your heart. It feels like you are part of their lives.
Jonathan Evison is a talented, remarkable, author.
A beautiful novel.

Real Life and all of its highs and lows

The story is simply stunning in how well it highlights marriage and the challenges of a healthy relationship.

Beautiful enduring marriage story

I can’t recall the last book I read about an enduring marriage with such well developed characters. I loved this story of Abe and Ruth Winter, a beautiful look into a long marriage with ups and downs and so many in between moments. It goes through both heartbreaking and heartwarming moments of lives intertwined across the decades. The author, Jonathan Evison, does such a wonderful job of writing about everyday moments, big and small, that create a life. Marriage, early love, parenting, pain, loss, and especially the struggles of aging. It was lovely and made me think of my own marriage story through time.

"To hold his hand was to be felt, to be tethered to something solid amidst the vast confusion of the universe."

The audio was performed superbly! I especially enjoyed the location and back/forth chapters of past/present.

Stereotypical characters, yawn

I really wanted to like this book, but didn’t. The narration was excellent, the storyline plausible, and the writing mediocre; the net result was a meh from me.
The two main characters weren’t terribly likable which didn’t help. What was supposed to be a 50 plus year marriage and love story made me scratch my head and wonder why they got married and moreover, why they didn’t divorce. That aside, what I disliked the most about the book was the lazy stereotypes. For example, the descriptions of Abe and Ruth in their rocking chairs on the front porch drinking prune juice, oh please. And their comments about the ‘youngins’ with their new fangled techie ways.
I wish I would’ve stopped reading the book halfway through but I kept hoping it would get better and I tend to finish every book. This just wasn’t my jam.

Mundane

This book felt repetitive and mundane. Like it wanted to read like an Elizabeth Strout gem but came nowhere close.

Summery of a life

This one wasn’t for me. Being in a very long relationship myself, I appreciated the honesty of the ups and downs and navigating those times with someone that you are not always feeling “in love” with. Having said that, I found these characters mostly whiny and unhappy throughout. They didn’t possess many redeeming qualities for me.