silent snow, secret snow

The family come together to spend Christmas at grandmother's house and prepare to enact again the family rituals of past years. Against this background of the well-known and well-loved continuities of the past, each character brings their own secret from the world of change and uncertainty. With the snow falling, roads closed and telephone lines down, the scene is set. The ingredients are grand: the characters extend from baby to aged maestro and the secrets include teenage loves, homosexuality, divorce, wedding, abortion, possible cancer and the death of a well-loved pet. It may seem too much but all is skilfully interwoven, all has its place. The stories and revelations develop in a carefully stage-managed drama of relationships, of losses and gains, which is moving, thought-provoking, wise and fun to read.