shelfofunread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Although I didn’t end up reviewing it for the blog – for reasons I now cannot remember but probably had a lot to do with time (or lack thereof) – I very much enjoyed W C Ryan’s previous novel, A House of Ghosts, which successfully combined an engaging period mystery with a gently unsettling ghost story and just a dash of the spy thriller. Ryan’s latest novel, The Winter Guest, refines that effective formula by upping the espionage antics, complicating the ghostly subplot, and adding in a dash of romance.
As with A House of Ghosts, The Winter Guest is set in the aftermath of the First World War. Captain Tom Harkin, formerly of the British Army, is now back home in Ireland and working covertly as an intelligence officer for the IRA. When his former fiancé, Maud Prendeville, is killed in what appears to be an IRA ambush gone wrong, Tom is summoned to Kilcolgan House at the request of his former employer, Maud’s uncle Sir John Prendeville, to investigate. The local British Auxiliary Forces, led by the sadistic and unpredictable Major Abercrombie, insist that the IRA must have killed Maud. But whilst they admit to killing her companions, the local IRA column swear that they left Maud – a staunch supporter of Irish independence and a survivor of the Easter Rising – alive. Unravelling the truth will lead Tom into an uneasy alliance with a member of British intelligence, into the investigation of an arms deal gone wrong, into the dark secrets and ghosts of the Prendeville family, and back into his own past and his memories of the trenches.
I was fascinated by the setting of The Winter Guest as, whilst I have read a number of novels set in the aftermath of the First World War, very few of them have been set in Ireland and, to my shame, I know very little about the history of Ireland or the fight for Irish Independence. Ryan doesn’t shy away from portraying the escalating violence and heartbreak of what is, in effect, a country engaged in a Civil War and the novel effectively portrays the heightened emotions and tensions that arise as a result, with Tom soon caught up in a spiral of retaliatory action and political one-upmanship. Few of the characters are being entirely honest with him but is that because they know something about Maud’s death? Because they suspect him of having an association with the IRA? Or for other reasons of their own?
The novel also benefits from effective characterisation with a charismatic – but not entirely infallible – lead and an interesting cast of supporting characters. Major Abercrombie is a particularly well-drawn combination of unhinged anger and calculated malice, whilst Harkin’s love interest Moira is a fiercely intelligent and amusing foil to his slightly more dour personality. I also enjoyed the uneasy truce that arises between Harkin and his opposite number in British intelligence, with both men united by their desire to see Maud’s killer, or killers, bought to justice.
Although not a ‘ghost story’ in the traditional sense, The Winter Guest is a novel imbued with hauntings. In addition to the ghostly White Lady said to appear at Kilcolgan House before the death of any Prendeville, Tom’s generation is haunted by their experiences in the trenches. Tom himself, invalided home with a shrapnel injury, is still suffering from the aftereffects of concussion and ‘shellshock’ (a type of what would now be termed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) whilst the Prendeville family continue to mourn the loss of their eldest son and heir in the trenches. And Ireland itself is portrayed as a country haunted: by secular and religious divisions, by the aftermath of the Easter Rising, and by the broken promises and treacheries of British Imperialism. So whilst there aren’t many things that go bump in the night here, The Winter Guest is certainly a novel full of ghosts and the atmosphere of the book is a suitably gloomy and foreboding one.
With a satisfying mystery/espionage plot and an effective realisation of both time and place, The Winter Guest more than matches up to its predecessor and makes for an engaging and interesting historical read. Fans of A House of Ghosts will find less overt hauntings here but will enjoy the same atmosphere, tension, and pacing that made his previous read so enjoyable.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpre.... My thanks go to the publisher and to Netgalley UK for providing an e-copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
As with A House of Ghosts, The Winter Guest is set in the aftermath of the First World War. Captain Tom Harkin, formerly of the British Army, is now back home in Ireland and working covertly as an intelligence officer for the IRA. When his former fiancé, Maud Prendeville, is killed in what appears to be an IRA ambush gone wrong, Tom is summoned to Kilcolgan House at the request of his former employer, Maud’s uncle Sir John Prendeville, to investigate. The local British Auxiliary Forces, led by the sadistic and unpredictable Major Abercrombie, insist that the IRA must have killed Maud. But whilst they admit to killing her companions, the local IRA column swear that they left Maud – a staunch supporter of Irish independence and a survivor of the Easter Rising – alive. Unravelling the truth will lead Tom into an uneasy alliance with a member of British intelligence, into the investigation of an arms deal gone wrong, into the dark secrets and ghosts of the Prendeville family, and back into his own past and his memories of the trenches.
I was fascinated by the setting of The Winter Guest as, whilst I have read a number of novels set in the aftermath of the First World War, very few of them have been set in Ireland and, to my shame, I know very little about the history of Ireland or the fight for Irish Independence. Ryan doesn’t shy away from portraying the escalating violence and heartbreak of what is, in effect, a country engaged in a Civil War and the novel effectively portrays the heightened emotions and tensions that arise as a result, with Tom soon caught up in a spiral of retaliatory action and political one-upmanship. Few of the characters are being entirely honest with him but is that because they know something about Maud’s death? Because they suspect him of having an association with the IRA? Or for other reasons of their own?
The novel also benefits from effective characterisation with a charismatic – but not entirely infallible – lead and an interesting cast of supporting characters. Major Abercrombie is a particularly well-drawn combination of unhinged anger and calculated malice, whilst Harkin’s love interest Moira is a fiercely intelligent and amusing foil to his slightly more dour personality. I also enjoyed the uneasy truce that arises between Harkin and his opposite number in British intelligence, with both men united by their desire to see Maud’s killer, or killers, bought to justice.
Although not a ‘ghost story’ in the traditional sense, The Winter Guest is a novel imbued with hauntings. In addition to the ghostly White Lady said to appear at Kilcolgan House before the death of any Prendeville, Tom’s generation is haunted by their experiences in the trenches. Tom himself, invalided home with a shrapnel injury, is still suffering from the aftereffects of concussion and ‘shellshock’ (a type of what would now be termed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) whilst the Prendeville family continue to mourn the loss of their eldest son and heir in the trenches. And Ireland itself is portrayed as a country haunted: by secular and religious divisions, by the aftermath of the Easter Rising, and by the broken promises and treacheries of British Imperialism. So whilst there aren’t many things that go bump in the night here, The Winter Guest is certainly a novel full of ghosts and the atmosphere of the book is a suitably gloomy and foreboding one.
With a satisfying mystery/espionage plot and an effective realisation of both time and place, The Winter Guest more than matches up to its predecessor and makes for an engaging and interesting historical read. Fans of A House of Ghosts will find less overt hauntings here but will enjoy the same atmosphere, tension, and pacing that made his previous read so enjoyable.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpre.... My thanks go to the publisher and to Netgalley UK for providing an e-copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, Death, and Murder
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
nevermoregothic's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death, War, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Torture
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Incest, Child death, and Outing
lureadsdigitally's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
The Winter Guest was an enjoyable and compelling read, right up my alley. It was a post-war historical fiction with a paranormal, gothic streak. I would have liked if the ghost-story aspect was more pronounced, less like a spiritist kind of thing. I also anticipated some of the plot twists, and I would have liked it if they were more surprising. Anyhow, the historical aspect was beautiful and heart-wrenching, which is essential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Car accident, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy, Incest, Kidnapping, and Torture
More...