Wintering by Katherine May

I was recommended Wintering by a friend, and after hearing such good things about it, I ordered myself a copy.

It took me a little while to read this one, but actually, I think that’s okay. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can pick up a book and finish it in a day. At other times, particularly when work is really busy, I get home and simply don’t have the headspace to read. And then there are books like Wintering, where I found myself wanting to take my time because I wanted to really hear what it was telling me.

Perhaps that’s rather fitting for a book that asks us to think differently about slowing down.

Katherine May’s Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times explores the periods in our lives when things don’t quite go to plan. May describes these difficult or transitional periods as our own personal winters, times when illness, loss, change, exhaustion or circumstances outside our control force us to retreat from life as we normally know it.

Drawing on her own experiences, alongside lessons from nature, literature and the ways people respond to winter, May challenges the idea that difficult periods are something we should simply push through as quickly as possible.

Instead, Wintering considers what might happen if we accept that life has seasons. There are times when we are productive, energetic and moving forward, and there are times when we need to stop, recover and simply get through whatever life has put in front of us. That message stayed with me.

We live in a world that celebrates being busy. We talk about productivity, resilience, achievement and “bouncing back”, often without acknowledging that sometimes people aren’t ready to bounce anywhere.

Sometimes you’re tired. Sometimes life is difficult. Sometimes you need a bit of time.

And that doesn’t mean you’re failing.

Why I think carers should read it

I think Wintering has a particularly important message for people working in health and social care.

Caring professions ask an enormous amount from people emotionally. You can spend an entire shift looking after other people, listening to their worries, supporting families, dealing with difficult situations and making sure everybody else is okay.

Then you go home and your own life is waiting for you.

There can be an expectation that we should simply keep going, particularly when other people depend on us. But carers have difficult seasons too. Relationships change. People become ill. Families struggle. Work becomes overwhelming. We experience grief, financial worries, exhaustion and all of the ordinary difficulties that come with being human.

One of the things I liked most about Wintering is that it doesn’t try to turn every difficult experience into a productivity exercise. It doesn’t tell you that you need to come out of a difficult period stronger, more successful or transformed into a completely different person.

Sometimes getting through the winter is enough, and perhaps that’s something more of us need permission to hear.

If you’re going through a difficult period, feeling exhausted, experiencing change or simply finding that you don’t have quite as much to give as you normally do, I’d recommend putting Wintering on your reading list. And don’t worry if it takes you a while to read it. Some books are meant to be raced through. I think this one is better taken slowly.

Why you’ll love it

• A gentle and thoughtful approach to life’s more difficult periods.
• Challenges the pressure to constantly be productive and positive.
• Explores rest, retreat, resilience and the natural cycles of life.
• Particularly relevant for people who spend much of their lives caring for others.
• A book you can return to during different “winters” in your own life.

Daily Round Rating: ★★★★

Jill Newey
Editor-in-Chief

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