Winterset Hollow: A Novel

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Jonathan Edward Durham was born near Philadelphia in one of many satellite rust-belt communities where he read voraciously throughout his youth. After attending William & Mary, where he received a degree in neuroscience, Jonathan waded into the professional world before deciding he was better suited for more artistic pursuits. I absolutely adored the poetry from the fictional book Winterset Hollow, it was spectacular. I legit would pay good money to own that fictional piece of literary art. The characters, both human and animal, were magnificent. I was attached to all of them in different ways. My only critique is the fact that the POV switched on a dime sometimes causing my brain some slight confusion. I also feel like it could have been a bit shorter, I wouldn't say I was ever bored, but there were definitely some parts that were kind of draggy. In the world of Durham’s novel, Winterset Hollow is a celebrated literary classic by Edward B. Addington, a member of an immensely wealthy family of English aristocrats who emigrated to America in the course of their business empire’s expansion. This book within a book is, effectively, a pastiche of The Wind in the Willows, The Hollow Tree Snowed-In Book, and the like—a charming, rustic, made-for-all-ages adventure story featuring a community of anthropomorphic animals, which even decades later remains beloved by children and adults across the world for its timeless themes of discovery, perseverance, and belonging. A Wildness of the Heart by Madison Scott-Clary Review by Casimir Laski Madison Scott-Clary’s A Wildness of the Heart is a collection of short stories bookending a single novella, The characters are fantastic, for the most part, with Addington’s creatures shining the brightest. Eamon serves as a serviceable protagonist, whilst his companions aren’t quite so memorable. On the other hand, Finn Fox is a real standout. Creepy, unpredictable, and highly unnerving, he’s a persistent foil to the protagonists.

Uh huh. It also doesn’t necessarily mean she’s not dumb,” Eamon retorted, raising his eyebrows and slurping his shake as Caroline stroked her boyfriend’s chubby cheek with her perfect, graceful fingers. “Although, for a woman, I must admit she’s quite handsome.” It seems to me that it is the lens rather than the specimen that determines what we see … what we fear … what we pine for … what we try to kill or otherwise hold ever dear.”What I liked: The story centres around three friends – Eamon, Caroline and Mark who decide to finally take a trip to the island where Eamon and Caroline’s favorite book was written. ‘Winterset Hollow’ (the book within the book) tells the story of rabbit, fox, frog, and bear on Barley Day, the annual feast day tradition. To Eamon and Caroline, the book is so much more. For Eamon, it is a book that helped him as a child. For Caroline, it is a connection to her mother who has passed away. Mark held his finger aloft in such a singular manner that it stopped him mid-sentence, and he wasted no time in turning his attention to the one who resembled Eamon as if to say, you . . . you may speak. “Yeah, man, we’re just waiting to get over to the isle,” said the redhead as the rest of the motley gathering confirmed as much by nodding and waving their own free passes in the salty September air. “It’s been almost an hour now.” My people!? Did you hear that?” Eamon replied with a snoot. “My people have been through a lot and frankly, we don’t need your insensitive stereotyping right now, okay?” Growing up, I sought out and consumed a steady diet of ‘dark-fantastical.’ Movies that had those fantasy elements, but also the hero’s quest, of trying to overcome the longest of odds to survive and defeat evil. I also loved reading the fairy tale stories, but also the anthropomorphised tales. I grew up during the perfect time period where there was a lot of this to watch and read. Think ‘Watership Down,’‘Chronicles of Narnia,’‘Legend,’‘Labyrinth,’‘The Dark Crystal,’‘The Last Unicorn,’‘Winnie the Pooh,’‘The Wind In The Willows,’‘Willow,’ and so, so many more. The first two movies I ever saw in theatres was a double feature; ‘The Land Before Time’ and ‘The Great Land of Small.’

I had some preconceived notions about the book because of its name; it seemed just the type of fantasy that I wanted to read. However, I was in for a surprise when I found out that it's an intersection between two worlds in the same time period, a mix of animal fantasy and the burden of inheritance. Winterset Hollow” by Jonathan Edward Durham truly sets the bar high for a brilliantly written horror novel that has so many layers of great storytelling that it took me on an incredible ride from beginning to end. To be fair, this is definitely a slow-burn kind of novel at first but once you get past the building up of this incredible story, it’s beyond worth it and so intense because it’s pretty insane that something like this could ever happen.I don’t know,” he protested. “I mean, that was okay, but I would’ve gone with like . . . ‘so far down his throat that he’ll be shitting whist cards for a fortnight,’ or something like that.” Jonathan Edward Durham was born near Philadelphia in one of many rust-belt communities where he read voraciously throughout his youth. After attending the College of William & Mary, where he received a degree in neuroscience, Jonathan waded into the professional world before deciding he was better suited for more artistic pursuits.