Set in Austria between the waning days of the Austro
Hungarian Empire and the
unsettling and menacing
times that foreshadow the
Hitlerian catastrophe, this
gorgeous novel tell the life stories of Anton & Lena, as they love, hope, despair and struggle before and after the painful ordeals of WWI and their bittersweet
encounter at the cusp of the 1930s.
Gorgeously written and exquisitely cast, this novel
is a beautiful and haunting
portrait of an Austrian society that is very much reminiscent of the sad and marvellous tales of Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth.
I loved this magnificent
fictional journey. Mr Faulks is without any doubt one of the best wordsmiths at work today in English literature.
Highly recommended and to be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random/Cornestone for this terrific ARC.

The latest novel from Faulks is character driven. We follow Anton, an aspiring journalist, determined to follow his own path rather than continue the family business.
Then there is Lena, daughter of an alcoholic mother whose other children were put into care. Lena finds her own type of love and independence.
A slow moving study with some fascinating sections such as the digging of the Panama Canal

I read this book very quickly as I wanted to know what happened, so I then reread it to enjoy Sebastian Faulks' lovely writing.

Anton Heideck has a history that is full of conflict. Lena has a complicated background. Anton was badly injured emotionally and physically during the First World War. Lena is the daughter of an alcoholic mother and an absent father, who has never known affection. The book tells both their stories, and their seemingly chance meetings.

Beautifully crafted characters, an interesting plot line and glorious detail make this another winning novel from Sebastian Faulks.

I really enjoyed reading this one. Part wanderlust, part troubled upbringing, part missed connections and the slow reveal of where paths meet kept me interested throughout.

This ambitious character driven novel spans 1906 to 1933 and is set principally in Austria with Vienna and the sanatorium at Schloss Seeblick being central settings. There are three main characters, first of all Anton Heideck who becomes a well known journalist, secondly, Lena who comes from humble origins and who goes to work at the Schloss as a maid. Here, her life and that of Anton intersect when he visits to write an article as there is much interest as this time in psychoanalysis and treatments and he decides to stay as a patient. Finally, there’s Rudolf Plischke, a lawyer and one time lover of Lena. The novel focuses on war, political changes and upheavals and on mental health.

These three characters are interesting and form quite a contrast to each other, especially Lena with these well educated men. Her background is done well and it’s easy to picture her somewhat hand to mouth existence, surviving as best she can. She’s starved of affection which leads to her make mistakes and she views the prospect of a job at the Schloss as a fresh start. Antony’s journalistic career is interesting as we follow him from Vienna to Paris where he reports on the trial of Henriette Caillaux as war looms in the background. He reports on the building of the Panama Canal and these are colourful sections. Anton lives a lot in his head, he’s searching for a lost love in Delphine who he meets before the war and he’s damaged physically and mentally by the action he sees in the horror of World War One. Rudolf is a conflicted soul in many ways, he’s a political idealist at a time of huge change and through him we see that it’s not looking good for democracy in Austria by 1933. In all honesty, I feel as if I never get to know these characters, it’s very hard to connect to them and so you don’t really invest in their lives.

The historical context is done well, we get a real sense of places and their atmosphere and the political changes are conveyed clearly. There are some good fairly brief scenes in the trenches and some quite graphic medical scenes which shows the frantic and difficult conditions of field hospitals. Through the Schloss the focus switches to treatments and views on mental health and this is interesting. A particularly strong element of the writing are the beautifully written descriptions of the area in and around the Schloss and these are so easy to visualise.

However, despite these positives, I don’t think this is the authors best work by any means. Parts of it are a real slog, the pace is very slow and we get a lot of inconsequential detail and conversations which seem to add very little to the bigger picture. There’s little in terms of actual plot as it’s principally a character study and they don’t really come alive on the pages. The love element I find hard to buy into as it seems a literary contrivance, it feels forced and inauthentic. I think part of the problem is that the novel has a huge overarching aim which doesn’t come of and which leaves you unsatisfied.

Overall, a mixed bag with some very good sections and some which I find dull.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the arc in return for an honest review.

Set in Austria in the years 1914 to 1933, this is not just a war novel but a deeply human story too, of relationships, politics, trauma, hatred and redemption. It follows Faulks’s previous book, Human Traces and is the second of a planned trilogy. The main protagonist is a young girl, daughter of an uncaring alcoholic. She grows up in abject poverty but possesses a drive and determination to find a better life, and most importantly to find love, which she has never had during her childhood. The story takes the reader on a journey through relationships, prejudice, turmoil in society, the rumblings of impending war and the goodness of the people she comes into contact with, as well as those with less benign traits.

If all this sounds a bit vague, it’s because this reviewer doesn’t do spoilers and wants you to read this beautifully crafted, superbly characterised and hugely engrossing book for yourself. There is a fair bit of gore here, which may not be to everyone’s taste, but the book is magnificent and nothing less than readers expect from this truly brilliant writer.

Following on from Sebastian Faulks’ 2005 ‘Human Traces, ‘Snow Country’ is another thematically ambitious novel, set principally in Austria in the first third of the twentieth century. It also focuses on mental health and the ways in which psychotherapy and psychiatry may or may not cure suffering. Not surprisingly there are plenty of references to Freudian beliefs. And yet this novel wears its learning a little more lightly than in ‘Human Traces’ and is the better for it.
Journalist Anton falls in love with a mysterious French woman, Delphine. After his assignment covering the Panama Canal (a fascinating section), he returns to Vienna but it is 2014; she has fled and he joins the army. When the war is over, like millions of others who survive the battlefields of WW1, Anton leads a troubled existence. He explains that it’s difficult to keep the war experience apart, ‘…and not let it flood you with its blood and poison into thinking all life before and after was meaningless and absurd.’ However, when he is sent to report on the medical practices at the Schloss Seeblick sanatorium in the Austrian mountains, he is encouraged to reflect on his experiences to date.
Lena, a servant at the sanatorium, has met Anton before although he’s not fully aware of this. Child of a neglectful upbringing by an alcoholic, sometimes prostitute mother, Lena is aware that her life is anything but conventional. She is fortunate that the owner of Schloss Seeblick accepts her for who she is and Lena enjoys her predictable, comfortable life in the mountains, safe from the previous turmoil of Vienna. Nevertheless, when Anton appears past feelings begin to emerge.
Whilst Faulks, as ever, allows the history of the time to permeate the narrative superbly, this is a novel for those who enjoy a focus on the inner life. Faulks’ elegant writing is always a pleasure to read and his characters express universal truths memorably as they ponder their own lives. As Anton ruminates, ‘None of us is spared history. That’s what history is. A leveller.’ Both Lena and Anton must come to terms with past losses and damaging experiences. Readers will, undoubtedly, feel some satisfaction that these sympathetic characters gravitate towards each other. Nevertheless, there is something about this relationship which feels a little contrived and perhaps why, ultimately, ‘Snow Country’ cannot be described as one of Faulks triumphs.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

After a quite gruesome beginning, we are taken to 1914 Vienna where we meet Anton who is trying to be a journalist against the wishes of his family. To supplement his income, he is is engaged as a tutor and it is on one visit that he meets Delphine, a woman who changes his life. But then, his country declares war on hers.

In the next section we are whisked to the year 1927 and meet Lena, who lives with her drunken mother, and is convinced that her life will amount to nothing. Working in the local hospital, she meets a young lawyer who whisks her off to Vienna. Life, however, goes wrong for her again and she takes a menial job at a sanatorium in the snow country - the Schloss Seeblick.

Time moves on again and we are in 1933 where we meet up with Anton again who, although an established writer, is still suffering after his experiences on the Eastern Front where he lost many friends. He accepts a commission to visit Schloss Seeblick and here, in this place where the mind can be healed, he explores his own suffering and seeks, finally, redemption.

The writing is beautiful and the descriptions, especially of the snowy Schloss Seeblick are evocative. My problem was that I just did not engage with the character of Lena. Anton and Delphine got under my skin, but not Lena, I found her frustrating, annoying. Another problem is that every time I pick up a novel by this author, I am wanting to be moved in the way the 'Birdsong' moved me. That book has never left me and I keep searching for another one to touch my heart the way that it did.

This was a nice read, spanning almost two decades and covering the political situation in Vienna as well as exploring the advances being made in the treatment of the human mind. I nliked it, I just did not love it.

Thank you, Netgalley, for giving me the opportunity to read this.

This novel is set in Austria around the beginning of the 20th Century. The action centres on 3 characters: Lena, a young woman with minimal education, brought up by an alcoholic mother and learning to be self-sufficient at an early age she moves between suspicion and romance. Rudolf is an idealistic young student, the member of a radical Christian political group, and Anton, who loves Delphine, an older woman he meets in Vienna, until his country declares war on hers and he goes off to fight, returning to Vienna with a damaged lung and damaged psyche.

The action moves between Vienna and a psychiatric hospital, where the new theories of Freud are a strong influence on treatment. Lena encounters both Rudolf and Anton in Vienna, moves to work in the hospital where (somewhat improbably) they both end up visiting for different reasons.

The novel has a broad scope, covering love and loss, the politics of Austria at the beginning of the century and the aftermath of the First World War as the country moves to the right and the growing influence of Hitler.

It is a gripping read, and I enjoyed it. Many thanks to Negalley and the publisher for a review copy.

This book is the second in a trilogy by Sebastian Faulks, but can be read as a stand-alone novel. I did in fact read the first one (Human Traces) but it was so long ago that I have only vague memories of it.

The book is set in Austria between about 1912 and 1933, partly in Vienna and other towns, but also at a private mental institution in the mountains. The clinic is overseen by the daughter of one of the founders who is also a therapist. The main female character is Lena, a poor and uneducated girl with doubtful paternity as her mother was a prostitute.

There is a lot of politics and medical theory, so this is quite a slow read but absorbing.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Hmmm.....I'm struggling to explain how I feel about this book. As a character study it is excellent, but after a tense, packed beginning the story meanders to a conclusion, with no real urgency, or plot, to compel it onwards. Characters and sense of place are fully drawn but I found myself strangely detached from them and indifferent to what would happen to them. It's beautifully written but doesn't really 'go' anywhere and while others may find more merit in that than me I didn't feelinvested in the story.

Sebastian Faulks is quite a prodigious author having written over 20 novels in the past 30 years. As a lover of 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 & 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘺, I have continued to dip and out of his books over the years. 𝘚𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, his latest book, is due for publication on 2 September 2021.

The novel is set in Austria in the years 1914-1933, a time of great historical and social upheaval. Lena is the impoverished daughter of an alcoholic mother, who meets the enigmatic Rudolf Plischke and moves to Vienna; Anton is a journalist, living in Vienna and waiting for his big break. Vienna proves to be a big disappointment for Lena and she leaves the city to take up a job as a servant in the Schloss Seeblick sanatorium located in the mountains. Anton, who fought on the Eastern Front, is traumatised by what he has seen in war. He is now a renowned writer and is commissioned to do a piece on the mysterious sanatorium. He is drawn immediately to Lena, but does not realise that they have already met before in Vienna under very different circumstances…

This was a fascinating period in world history and is one of the aspects of the novel I enjoyed the most: World War 1, the growth of socialism, the depression, the construction of the Panama canal, they all feature here. Of particular interest to me are the references to Freud and the development of psychoanalyses.

This is also a story about human suffering and redemption as Lena and Anton discovers the essence of who they are. I found the love story element a bit implausible and preferred the historical backdrop to the story. Not the best Faulks noveI I’ve read, but it is an ambitious read. Lovers of historical fiction will certainly enjoy the book. I also wondered whether the book title was the right choice? It did not resonate sufficiently, for me, with the themes of the novel.

Many thanks to @netalley and @randomhouseuk for this e-book in return for my honest review.

'Snow Country' is a sequel to Faulks' novel 'Human Traces' - which I have read, but too long ago to really remember it. As I read, I bits did come back to me as events were alluded to and jogged my memory. The novel is described as one that can be read as a stand-alone or as a series. Whilst I think you could appreciate this book without having read 'Human Traces', it contains numerous spoilers that would ruin the former. So I would suggest reading 'Human Traces' first if you haven't already. I don't think it's necessary to re-read 'Human Traces' if you have read it previously though, even if like me you can't remember it.

Although a sequel, the principal characters in 'Snow Country' are new. Anton Heideck is a journalist whose life is interrupted by World War I. The woman he loves disappears during the conflict and Heideck is traumatised by the things he witnesses. Years after the war, he visits the mental asylum (from 'Human Traces') to write a magazine article about it. There he meets the descendants of the main characters in 'Human Traces', who still run the asylum, and also a young maid called Lena. Lena has had a difficult life, growing up in the local town with an alcoholic single mother, then falling on hard times in Vienna. Is Anton able to match up to Lena's expectations?

As I'd expected from a Faulks book, it is nicely written and easy enough to read. There is less research-heavy factual stuff than in some of his novels - 'Human Traces' being a prime example. This is a definite bonus. Whilst it's clear that Faulks has done a lot of background work to understand what he's writing about, he doesn't need to summarise it all in the novel as if he were writing an exam essay. I think it felt more readable than 'Human Traces' as a result. The scope also felt narrower and more focussed than that of some of his novels.

There's a lot of good about 'Snow Country' as a piece of character led fiction. Plot-wise it's not as strong and not a great deal happens. He avoids lots of writing about the actual war (a good thing, as he's done this often in previous novels) and the action revolves simply around the characters living their fairly ordinary lives. The 'will-they-won't-they' romance element gives a bit of extra pace to the last section. It's a nicely written enough story but it's a bit underwhelming. I feel like Faulks has avoided a lot of the things that often annoy me about his books, but for me he needs a more compelling plot. If you enjoy Faulks' books, you'll no doubt buy this and read anyway - and will likely enjoy it well enough. If you've yet to discover the author, try one of his (better) earlier novels first - 'Birdsong', 'Charlotte Grey', or 'Enderby.'

With grateful thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest opinion.
I had heard a lot about this book and writer and was delighted to get a copy, was rather gruesome at the beginning but didn't put me off,it wasn't quite what I thought it was going to be be none the less rather interesting I did skip a few chapters but on the whole was good.

This book starts with a surgery, a very graphic surgery. There’s one thing I’m not good at (next to many other things, by the way) and that’s watching a surgery on television. I immediately get nauseated. Reading about it obviously leads to the same reaction. After the first page, I threw my e-reader away, shivering, nauseated. I tried again with the same result. I skimmed a few pages, skipped some more and the surgery was still going on. The next day I tried again. Started reading from the second chapter. But after every sentence I read, I remembered the words scalpel and flesh and blade and cutting and more. And I quit reading again. I decided to DNF. My fasted DNF ever. Such a graphic start of a book and me are just not a good combination. I’m sorry author and publisher...