The Winters: Betty J Cotter

by Betty J. Cotter

On the coast of Rhode Island in 1978, the Winter family lives in a decaying farmhouse within view of the Atlantic Ocean. When family patriarch Jim Winter inexplicably commits suicide one January morning, his wife, Helen, teenage daughter, Joyce, and fisherman son, Dale, are left to pick up the pieces. Like the man whose life insurance is worth more than his life, Helen Winter knows that cashing in on the value of their oceanfront property would be both the salvation and destruction of the Winters, who have farmed this seaside land for three centuries. Cousin Ludlow Winter gives her a job in his real estate office, but he also pressures her to sell more and more of the farm. Neighbor Fran Kennedy befriends her, but also seems to be eyeing her antiques. Her sister-in-law, Loretta, wants to turn the Winter land over to the Audubon Society. Meanwhile, Joyce tries to make sense of her father's suicide and a generation of family secrets all while trying to preserve her Swamp Yankee heritage, which is threatened by greedy developers and outsiders who have no understanding of this land the Winters call home. Her best friend, Camille, a Narragansett Indian, is on a journey of her own to untangle her heritage. As a storm threatens to overtake the farm, the journeys of these women will collide with hurricane force.

312 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2012

Reviews

[Calvin Campany]

This book is quite simply an intimate glimpse into a family’s life. A family that could very well live next door to you, a family that might have gone to school with, or the family you recognize at the grocery store every weekend.
Reading this novel made me feel like the silent guest watching wordlessly as their lives unfold over three decades. Joyce, Helen, Dale (I hate to say “characters”) pulled at my heart from the pages of this story in all their gritty realism and brokenness, and engaged me in a way that I felt not only did I know them, but that I cared for them and wanted only the best for them.
Do you want to read a story that is so gorgeously written that you smell the salty air of the Narragansett as you turn the page? Do you want to read a story that explores the complexities of tragedy and its effects on a family already damaged by the world around them? Then read this novel. A+

[Myrina]

An unusual reading experience.

Helen Winters would be one of those drab, bland, middle-age women behind you on line at CVS--except that Helen seldom ventures forth to CVS or anywhere else. Yet, she ranks right up there for me, with any fictional character I've come across. How can the life of such a well-meaning and responsible person be so disappointing and unfulfilled? Except for the overt drama of her husband's suicide and little girl's death by drowning, each day has been understated drama. But her coping skills are valiant and also understated. It all seems to go back to luck--she could just as easily have been an adored daughter, wife, mother. But all this has eluded her, seemingly through no fault of her own.

This did not seem like reading a book, but rather like knowing a normal seeming family with whom you shared years of your life, then learning things you would never have suspected, and wishing somehow you could have helped.

[Catherine (Cate) hewitt]

Set in South County, RI, this book's characters harbor painful generational family secrets that they gradually reveal to one another. One of the characters writes a brief "country woman's essay" at the beginning of every chapter, which is charming and also reflective of the plot. Cotter creates quite a few characters and redeems them in the end -- not an easy feat. She also includes issues around the selling off of old family farms to developers and how towns change and grow (for better and for worse).

[Lisa Tener]

I so enjoyed Betty Cotter's The Winters. The characters and their relationships were rich and layered. As a south county resident, I loved the local color (and trying to figure out exactly where the farm was located. Cotter's descriptions of nature are lovely. And I enjoyed a few surprises in the plot!

[Pat]

A story I couldn't put down!