Sebastain Faulkes new novel follows the fate of three main characters in Austria from 1903 through the course of one war to the rumblings of a second. In 1933 they will all meet at the Schloss Seeblick, a sanatorium known for successfully treating patients with mental imbalances.

Anton Heideck, a successful journalist has spent his life yearning for his first love Delphine Fourmentier, a woman who disappeared during the chaos that was the start of WW1. The trauma her suffered fighting in the war and seeing his best friend die has only sharpened his loss of Delphine and he seems unable to move on with his life. He has come to Schloss Seeblick to write an article for a magazine on the sanatorium and Martha Midwinter, the remarkable woman who runs it.

Lena escaped her impoverished childhood by moving to Vienna where she discovered politics, philosophy and art under the guidance of young lawyer Rudolf Plischke. However, when life in Vienna sours for her there she takes up the offer of a job as a domestic servant at the Schloss Seeblick. Rudolf will later meet Lena again when he visits the Schloss to advise them on some legal matters.

The novel focuses on the effects of war, the political tensions in Austria and the rise of facism as well as the growth of psychoanalysis away from Freud’s theories to more compassionate and gentle treatments. Lena and Anton are both recipients of Martha’s wise counselling, freeing them to move on with their lives. It’s a literary novel with beautiful prose, particularly the description of the Schloss and it’s lake. I found the sections in the Schloss and the discussion of current psychotherapy interesting and very much liked Martha and her ideas. Overall, the novel is fairly slow moving, being mostly driven by the three main characters and their personal insecurities, loves and losses. While I enjoyed reading it, it didn’t affect me in the same way that Birdsong did, but maybe that’s too much to ask for.

Sweeping across Europe as it recovers from one war and awaits the coming of another, SNOW COUNTRY is a landmark novel of exquisite yearnings, dreams of youth and the sanctity of hope. In elegant, shimmering prose, Sebastian Faulks has produced an epic love story of timeless resonance.‘ – Publisher Quote

Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks will be published September 2nd with Hutchinson Heinemann (Cornerstone/Penguin UK) and is a return to Schloss Seeblick, the setting of Sebastian Faulks’ 2011 novel, Human Traces. But ‘although we glimpse one or two characters from the past, this is a new world’ says Sebastian Faulks of Snow Country. When people ask me what my favourite book of all time is I always include Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993). The vivid descriptions of trench warfare have remained with me and it is a book that really had a huge impact. As a result I am always quite reticent when picking up another book by Sebastian Faulks.

Human Traces is ‘set during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries….brilliantly captures the drama behind the intellectual and social controversies spurred by Darwin’s theory of evolution and breakthroughs in the study of mental illness.’ Snow Country is more about the humanity of people as they struggle to survive in a world that is tumbling down around them. It is a tale of epic proportions taking the reader on a scintillating journey from the early 1900s to the immediate years prior to the Second World War.

Snow Country is set in Austria where we are introduced to Anton Heideck, a hopeful journalist turning his back on his family’s sausage business, Rudolf Plischke, an idealist (and lawyer) with quite radical views, and Lena, a young girl born on the wrong side of the tracks with ambition and survival instincts. Sebastian Faulks explores significant historical events like the building of the Panama Canal and the famous trial of Parisian socialite Henriette Caillaux, as well as the political and societal changes of the time.

Anton Heideck is frustrated with his life, very unsure of his future, until he meets with Delphine Fourmentier, a tutor who is temporarily based in Vienna. Delphine is everything and more than Anton could ever have hoped for and, over the weeks, a relationship develops, leading the pair to set up home in quite an unorthodox fashion for the time. Delphine has her secrets but Anton is blinded by passion and love never looking for any more information than she offers. While he is in Paris reporting on the Caillaux case, the declaration of war they had all feared is announced. Anton’s return to Vienna is delayed but when he finally makes it back, Delphine has disappeared. Anton gets caught up in the horrors of the war with Sebastian Faulks yet again creating dramatic and very rich descriptions of the trenches, albeit only for a section of the novel. The years of fighting and the injuries suffered left a catastrophic mark, both physically and emotionally on Anton and, with no Delphine waiting for him, he goes through a very disturbed period in his life. Following the war, he embarks on a magazine assignment that takes him to Schloss Seeblick, a sanatorium, where he hopes to write an article studying the possible decline of Austria’s world-leading expertise on matters of the mind and psychiatry. While there he crosses paths with people from many different walks of life and he discovers peace there away from the maddening crowds. Anton Heideck has obviously suffered untreated PTSD and this place becomes a temporary refuge for him.

“He fears being just a consciousness, a whirlpool of impersonal energy. A toy of history with no will of his own”
– Martha Midwinter, Schloss Seeblick, conversing with her sister, Charlotte, about Anton Heideck

Rudolf Plischke is a young man with radical beliefs and strong views. Caught up in a spiralling political situation, Rudolf hopes for a better future for Austria. He crosses paths with Lena, a young girl struggling to survive. Lena is the daughter of Carina, an alcoholic and a prostitute who has given birth to numerous children. She handed all her babies over to institutional care except for Lena. For whatever her reasons, she decided to be a more proactive mother and Lena was given a chance at an education. But Lena was not interested in mathematics or reading. She dreamed of a different life and hoped to someday be with her father, a sailor from Trieste who she has a very brief encounter with. Lena is taken under Rudolf’s wing in Vienna but over time the Viennese life does not suit Lena and she takes the opportunity to work at Schloss Seeblick. Rudolf dips in and out of her life over the following years, leaving her confused and often angered.

Snow Country captures the very essence of Anton, Rudolf and Lena as their lives become intertwined over the years. Sebastian Faulks writes with an extremely perceptive hand bringing his cast of characters very much to life for the reader. The novel does contain an element of psychoanalysis/psychotherapy running through its core but it’s not over-bearing, rather enough to be insightful and quite fascinating. There were occasional sections of dialogue throughout the novel that I did find a little jarring, as they lacked a certain flow and didn’t sit with me too well but, in the overall reading experience, I was able to overlook them.

With a heart-breaking and compelling storyline Snow Country encapsulates a period of history that saw forceful changes in history. Everyone at the time suffered in some manner either through war or illness, with the Spanish Flu adding to the death toll. The spirituality and minds of many were tested to the extreme and not everyone could cope, escaping into their heads looking for a better alternative reality.

“Why should my life be different or special? None of us is spared by history. That’s what history is. A leveller. A universal joke whose shape is visible only in retrospect. God laughs when he hears our plans, but history laughs louder”

Snow Country is a haunting novel, a very authentic and profound tale. It is a history lesson, a love story, a very affecting reading experience. A richly visual and perceptive story.

Wonderful wonderful book from one of my favourite authors.
1914 Anton meets Delphine a tutor, who he fell in love with. But war came and they were split apart.
Lena who has a drunk as a mother and feels very much useless, until she meets Rudolph who made her very happy, but he left her.
Lena then goes to work in a sanatorium where her mother worked, and is happy there.

Anton goes to the sanatorium to write about it as he is a well known journalist, where he meets Lena.
They had met before but Anton has no memory of her, but they decide to have a relationship.

Thanks loved it.

This is the first book by Sebastian Faulks I have read and it is utterly amazing.
The book has so many facet. A love story lasting over three decades. A social history of the early part of the 20th century with in depth descriptions of events leading to the First World War and the inter war years and the rise of Hitlers power. The early years of mental health and the effect that it had on women to control them.
His descriptions of his characters go to such depths that you invest in their outcomes and want them to achieve their heart’s desire but like real life there are many disappointments.
I cannot praise this book enough and although it is the second book in a trilogy it stands well on its own

Sebastian Faulks always gets the intimate details of history right and with novels such as Birdsong, Charlotte Gray and now Snow Country he has set a standard so high it will be a long time before any novelist will equal him.
In an emotionally devastating return to Schloss Seeblick the author again explores the price of being human. This is an ambitious and compassionate novel with vividly drawn characters and an unforgettable love story. It is written with passion and integrity and was an absolute pleasure to read.

Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks is apparently the second novel in a series, the first book being ‘Human Traces’ which was published in 2011 and unfortunately not read by me! However, fortunately this did not spoil it for me as Snow Country is easily read as a standalone. It’s a profound account of human desire and the power it has over the human mind.
In short, it follows the lives of Anton, a tormented, aspiring journalist and Lena, a poor, young girl struggling with life. The story sweeps through Europe as it recovers from one war and awaits the coming of another…it’s a love story like no other ‘The search for what was absent made them vulnerable’, a sentence which is taken from the book captures the essence of the story perfectly.
Sebastian Faulks is undoubtedly a master storyteller and Snow Country is another literary treasure added to Faulks impressive stable. Initially I thought I wasn’t going to like it as it appeared to be a full on ‘flowery’ love story…I couldn’t get my head around that some guy had an absurd fascination with a woman’s hairy lip! However, once the story got going, around the time we were introduced to Lena, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was an intriguing exploration into the human psyche.
It was interesting to read that Faulks inspiration was from the original ‘Snow Country’ novel by Yasunari Kawabata.
Big thanks to Sebastian Faulks, Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

Snow Country is set primarily in Austria and spans approximately 40 years either side of the First World War. Faulks takes us deep into the lives and psyche of the book's 4 main characters whose paths intersect throughout the novel.
Anton takes the lead role in the novel. He wants, above all else, to be a reporter, paid to travel and find adventure in exotic, exciting places. But, life, war, love and personal grief all combine to frustrate his progress.
Then we meet Lena, who endures a traumatic childhood with an alcoholic mother, before escaping to live independently in Vienna. Here, she finds companionship and indeed love - albeit she doesn't fully recognise it. Latterly she moves away from Vienna to work in a remote residential care home for people suffering with mental issues. Those guests who use it as a retreat where luxury and comfort and a set regime contribute to their recovery subsidise those inmates living with incurable psychological conditions. It is here, into this secure and homely environment, that Lena quickly settles and finds companionship.
The manager of this residential home is Martha, who quietly and efficiently runs the business she inherited from her father. She has also taken on a therapist role of listening to her clients' problems, and in doing so, she relieve their tensions. But is this role depriving her of love and happiness in her own life?
Lastly there is Delphine who is beautiful, happy and loved but she has a secret which, by being unshared, means she lives her life with Anton under a cloud of guilt.
And it is guilt, self-doubt, frustration and personal insecurity that connects the lives of these characters. By gently adding dimension to each character Faulks draws the reader into their lives as they intertwine, separate and come together again. By the end we feel we know them and can appreciate the struggle each has endured to come to terms with the mental baggage they carry every day. Each finds a different solution but all are successful.

I haven’t read the first episode of this trilogy but this story perfectly stands alone. The years from the early part of the20th century to the mid 1930s are used in the story of Lena and Anton the main characters beautifully described. Very atmospheric in the pictures of Vienna and the hospital where the mental consciousness is studied and treated. The First World War is briefly used as is the construction of the Panama Canal all cleverly intertwined with the main characters history with Lena the daughter of an alcoholic prostitute and her own seeming descent to mimicking her mother while Anton pursues a journalistic writer career. Later the threat of Fascism lurks in the background of what is a satisfying read. Now I need to read the first part while waiting for the third!

Although Snow Country is the second book in a planned trilogy – the first of which was Human Traces published in 2005 – it can be read as a standalone.

Opening with a dramatic prologue that some readers may find too graphic for their taste, the book explores some profound psychological and moral issues through events in the lives of its principal characters – Anton Heideck, Lena Fontana and, to a lesser extent, Rudolf Plischke.

The first part of the book featuring Anton Heideck provides a vivid picture of pre-First World War Vienna with its coffee houses, opera houses and concert halls. Unfortunately, most of the delights of the city are out of the reach of young Anton as he tries to scrape a living as a private tutor and journalist. Anton begins an intense relationship with the enigmatic Delphine, a young woman hired as a companion and French tutor to a Viennese family.

As Anton becomes more successful, assignments to Paris and Moscow follow as well as a trip to report on the US-led construction of the Panama Canal. The latter has resonance for citizens of France because of the earlier involvement of Ferdinand de Lesseps, for a time a national hero because of his role in the construction of the Suez Canal. Unfortunately, his attempts to build a sea-level canal across the isthmus of Panama ended in failure with investors in the project losing everything. However, the outbreak of the First World War has momentous consequences for Anton, leaving emotional scars and unanswered questions.

Lena’s story is one of a young girl growing up with few advantages in life, except perhaps that her alcoholic mother has chosen to raise her rather than give her up for adoption like so many of Lena’s half-sisters and brothers, the result of her mother’s brief couplings with various men. Even learning the identity of her father leaves Lena feeling abandoned and her instinctive self-expression and unconventional nature sets her apart from others. Gradually she transforms herself from illiterate school girl to independent young woman although not without moments of desperation and emotional disappointment along the way, including a relationship with idealistic young lawyer, Rudolf Plischke.

Although the book seems to be at least two different stories with little connection between them, chance – or perhaps, fate – sees Anton, Lena and Rudolf arrive at the sanatorium, Schloss Seeblick. Lena is employed there as a servant, and Anton and Rudolf are there for professional reasons. Lena is the connection between the two men, although they are unaware of this. For Lena and Rudolf their meeting is an opportunity to resolve some unfinished business between them.

Initially Anton’s interest in the sanatorium is purely professional, having been commissioned to write an article about it. He learns more about the sanatorium and the philosophy behind its treatments through his conversations with head therapist Martha Midwinter. These include discussions about the theories of Freud and others, a lot of which I’ll freely admit went over my head. Whilst studying the papers in the sanatorium’s archives for his article, Anton comes across a letter whose contents resonate with him: ‘The human mind has evolved in a way that makes it unable to deal with the pain of its own existence. No other creature is like this.’ Anton begins to wonder if Schloss Seeblick might offer him a way to resolve his own mental torment, caused by a combination of the unresolved issues in his personal life and his experiences as a soldier in the First World War. Through his subsequent sessions with Martha, we begin to learn more about Anton’s wartime experiences and understand their lasting impact on him, including what we would today recognize as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The observation that ‘life is full of missed connections, of bad timing’ is an apt description of the book and I enjoyed Snow Country, especially Lena’s story, although I was left with the feeling that I wasn’t quite clever enough to appreciate everything the author was seeking to explore in the book. However, I guess it’s no bad thing for a book to leave you with the sense there’s more to the world, and to other people, than you think you know.

I must admit I like Sebastian Faulks and his writing style - this book does not disappoint. I did not realise that this was the second book in a trilogy (though it can be read as a stand alone which is just as well as I had not read the first).
The story takes place over a 30 year time frame and follows the story of three main characters from Pre World War One through the war and up to pretty much the start of World War Two.
The book is split into parts that switch between characters and times and locations. The story is set in Austria at a very turbulent time and as with other books by Faulks the historical backdrop plays an important role.
The story is one of love that rolls over many years and twists and turns. the descriptions of cities and places gives you a real sense of wanderlust.
The book is pretty long but it captivates you and draws you into it. It's a fantastic read and I will look forward to the next instalment.

Snow country manages to powerfully combine a detailed and intimate focus on the lives and minds of its main characters, with a grand overview of a tumultuous and rapidly changing world across three decades.
The novel interrogates how all our lives are shaped by forces outside our control but rather than evoking a feeling of hopelessness, Faulkes manages to convey the complete opposite – this is a book about resilience, love and desire, where human suffering is counter balanced by hope and the chance of redemption.
Snow Country is the second book in a trilogy, but I haven’t read the first book in the series, and it worked really well for me as a stand-alone novel.
The book tells the story of Lena, a girl born to an alcoholic mother in a small town in southern Austria in 1906, Anton, the restless son of a bourgeois family who sets out to make his fortune in pre-First World War Vienna, and the idealistic young lawyer Rudolf Plischke, who wants to change the world. Their lives move apart over the years but come together again in 1934 at the atmospheric snow-capped sanatorium Schloss Seeblick, where human suffering is laid painfully bare but there remains a chance to rebuild broken lives.
Faulkes’ ability to stitch together grand themes and sweeping page-turning narrative together with the innermost feelings of truly believable characters is truly impressive. Even the minor players come to life as he takes us to the heart of what it means to be human.
Sweeping across a fragile and frightening Europe precariously placed between two wars, Snow Country is the kind of book that sucks you into its world, with its elegant prose, superbly paced narrative and tantalising glimpses of a better world.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honst review.

Sebastian Faulks is one of my favourite authors but sadly I wasn't so keen on this one. Human Traces - the prequel to Snow Country - is my least favourite Faulks novel, so perhaps I should have expected it, but I just wasn't gripped by the story, and there was a fair amount that felt unnecessary to the plot and my understanding of the characters.

Faulks can always be relied upon to deliver beautiful writing and this novel is no exception. His descriptions of romantic, familial and friendly relationships are sublime. The characters of Martha and Charlotte are also beautifully drawn and their stories could be a book in itself.

I found it quite difficult to get on with this book, however. It felt incredibly slow in places and I struggled with the long passages about Freud and psychiatric theory. That’s more about my own personal interests than the book itself, though, but is the reason for giving it only three stars.

An intriguing story from the author behind Birdsong about two kindred spirits drawn together against a troubled mid-20th century European backdrop. A follow-up to Sebastian Faulk's early book, Human Traces, this nevertheless reads very well as a stand alone historical novel in its own right.

I absolutely adored this novel by Sebastian Faulks, a story of love, loss and hope set in the time between the wars. Gorgeous prose and fascinating settings. As ever, Faulks is brilliant at getting inside the female psyche. Highly recommended.

With SNOW COUNTRY, Sebastian Faulks reaffirms his place as one of the greatest novelists of our times. It is both learned and lyrical and confirms Mr Faulks’ role as the voice of the human heart.

The narrative starts in Vienna, where we meet a series of characters who are standing on the threshold of First World War. All over Europe, lives and loves are being thrown into chaos. Although we already know this intellectually, the beauty of SNOW COUNTRY is that we feel it as well. The characters are exquisitely rendered so that when this person goes missing, the reader is left anxiously awaiting news that may or may not ever come. Because the novel is being played out against actual events from the first half of the 20th century, the reader effectively holds a crystal ball over the characters’ plans. It’s a tantalising, yet heart-breaking position to be in, and I was conscious of trying to slow myself down and savour the piece rather than just rush on to find out what happens.

There is so much to admire about Sebastian Faulks, not least the way he seems to renew his rules of engagement with each novel. In SNOW COUNTRY the backdrop is the great sweep of early 20th-century history and the big debates underway in politics and psychology. Yet, while reading, I kept thinking of Monet’s waterlilies and how Faulks’ prose feels like a form of narrative impressionism. It’s this accumulation of perfect details, a verbal pointillism if you will, which brings the lives and loves of his characters to life. As readers we are then able to zoom in and out between the enormous, unfathomable canvass of history, and the minutiae of the hearts and minds which speak to us the most.

All in all, another triumph for Sebastian Faulks. With many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me see an advance copy of SNOW COUNTRY.

I have read Sebastian Faulks’ other books over many years and this book is definitely as powerful as his others. This book follows the story started in Human Traces, published in 2005. I remember reading it on honeymoon in Thailand in 2006 and loving it. I wish the gap between reading these wasn’t as long, I can only remember the actual story vaguely (it was a long time ago!).

In this beautiful story, we are introduced to Anton, a young man in Vienna before WW1, working as a low paid journalist and tutor. He meets the French Delphine and falls in love. When he returns from working in Paris just as war breaks out, Delphine has disappeared. He is injured in the war and struggles with PTSD and grief afterwards. Lena is a daughter of an alcoholic, the first child Carina does not give up to the orphanage. Lena grows up knowing she is different from the other children. After she has lived in Vienna for a while she hears her mother has died. She comes home and starts working in the hospital that featured in Human Traces. Anton comes to write an article about the facility and stays on as a patient.

I was expecting this to be a harder read than it was. Some of the difficult and sadder parts are tackled in the context of the therapist’s sessions. There is also quite a lot of philosophical debate, but it’s not too hard to process. For me, this is a story with immense healing and lonely souls finding solace with one another. A beautiful and thought-provoking story 🇦🇹❤️📚

Another sublime read from Sebastian Faulks. Snow Country is no exception to his absorbing, elegant writing style giving us a page turning, thought provoking novel.
Set in Europe between the World Wars, we are introduced to characters whose lives become inextricably linked. Anton Heideck, a young journalist, meets an older woman, Delphine with whom he falls in love, but war divides them.
Lena has a bad start to life living with her alcoholic mother until she meets Rudolf a young passionate lawyer making a name for himself as a radical anti-facist. He takes her to Vienna, but the relationship falters and after some tough times, Lena eventually leaves to work as a maid in a sanatorium, Schloss Seeblick where her mother once worked.
From there, the complex plot merges the characters' stories and the reader is treated to an emotional, hopeful novel with a wonderfully satisfying ending.

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Firstly, thanks to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for providing the advanced copy in exchange for a review. Snow Country will be published on 2nd September!

Lena is the impoverished daughter of an alcoholic mother who moves to Vienna in the hopes of a fresh start. She leaves the city and begins work as a maid in a Sanatorium in the mountains. This is where she meets Anton- a journalist trying to catch his big break, working on a piece about the Sanatorium. Having seen active service on the frontline and pining for a lost love, Anton is traumatised by his past and doesn't realise that he has met Lena before, back in Vienna...

I think the historical context was brilliant and as always with this author, there are some gorgeous, lyrical descriptions and vivid imagery of life on the frontline during the first world war that leapt to life on the page! I found the focus on mental health and the development of treatments in psychiatry really interesting.

However, I struggled with the love story. I didn't feel convinced in the relationship but I can understand why their characters would be drawn to eachother. Both have had experiences which lead them to find an equally broken soul.

The book itself is set between 1914-1933 when a lot of social changes were happening and it's a really fascinating period to read about, especially with the benefit of hindsight, so if you like your history, you may find this an eye-opening read!

I loved Birdsong so I was a bit disappointed that I didn't enjoy this one as much. I found the pace really slow and there were parts of the book that felt irrelevant and just there to bulk out the book. On the flip side, there were parts that were emotional and gripping so I'm a bit conflicted as to how I felt overall!

I will start by confessing I’m a big fan of Sebastian Faulks writing, and this is another great read. He is most definitely a master craftsman and this is a brilliant work of art.

What I love about this book is that the writing just flows beautifully and it reads so easily but when you sit back and reflect on what you have read there is nothing easy about this book. The characters of Lena, and Anton are just so well written, you can’t help but become emotionally attached to them, although all the characters in the story play their part brilliantly, and stay with you throughout the story.

This book beautifully explores many complex issues and emotions in a very real way, without sensationalism or being overly sentimental. When I’d finished this book though, and reflected on the book as a whole, I actually felt quite emotional, about the time I’d spent with the characters and the events that they had been through, and also quite worried for their future, as I have the benefit of foresight and know what period in our history is coming next.