This is a collection of twelve short stories. The writing felt disjointed but the stories also didn't captivate my attention.

Beautiful stories, set in Italy, Finland, Ireland, Russia, Germany, Scotland and America, all individually revealing the impact the seasons can have on our well being.

Short stories are not a genre I usually enjoy. Many seem to be just excerpts in time leaving me frustrated and wanting and I like a story to have a beginning, a middle and an ending, no matter how short. So I was very impressed that Kenneth Steven’s stories in this little book had just that; each with an ethereal almost magical atmosphere evoking the beauty and serenity, as well as the cold, dark, bleakness of winter.

Some were very short, some much longer, and they were set in different places - America, Finland, Germany, Russia. I liked the Scottish ones best: “Cullen Skink” a story about a grandfather making soup with his grandson as a healing for the tragic loss of a son and father made me picture the wildness of a winter storm and the sanctuary of home in in North East Scotland, “A Christmas Child” a simple but touching little tale about something positive coming about from the terrible wrecking of a vessel by local villagers, and “The Gift”, another winter take about travellers and mistletoe and celebrating a way of life.

Some delivered a surprise - “The Song of a Robin” and “The Miracle”. I found “Out” plain amusing. Some were very poignant and sad with themes of war, loss, pain and hopelessness, but everyone of them made you pause and think and appreciate.

I believe Kenneth Steven is a poet and it certainly comes through because some sentences were incredibly spare, but spot on and very poetic, making me wish I could sum things up so perfectly.

A lovely to book to snuggle up with on a cold winters day.

I really liked these stories, especially Elmeness. This book is easy to read and I enjoyed spending an afternoon reading it. I’d recommend it!

This is the perfect collection of winter stories. They run deeper than mere fables, which I appreciated and enjoyed.

‘Winter Tales’ is a collection of short stories from poet, children’s author, novelist and translator Kenneth Steven.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author apparently lives in Argyll, which is just North of where I am on the West Coast of Scotland, so admittedly this may have enhanced the reading experience for me personally (you had me at “The sea was a living cauldron”)

Elemental influences are felt in Steven’s writing, while at the same time invoking cosy, domestic atmospheres – poetic snapshots of life that are poignant in their simplicity, as all short stories should be. These ‘Winter Tales’ work beautifully as a collection and, as described by the publisher, each is enriched by the reading of the other.
The changing of the seasons and human emotion go hand in hand, as far as I’m concerned, and Kenneth Steven encapsulates this beautifully.

5/5*

~Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not associated with the author or publisher in any way. My opinion is completely unbiased and entirely my own~

Sadly I did not enjoy the stories, there did not seem to be a common thread and most of them were too short to even develop.

This is a collection of twelve short stories gathered by Kenneth Stevens from around the globe. I liked several of the stories but for the most part I found my self skimming. The stories focus on the human emotions including people who have lost their way, being bullied, love, faith and betrayal.

I am torn in my review of these stories. Undoubtedly the author can write, and the language is beautiful. In that regard, each story is a jewel. And yet., after the first four or five stories, I found myself reluctant to pick the book up. Too melancholy, too downbeat, too cloying? Lacking warmth, perhaps, which in a winter collection should come as no surprise. An interesting choice for students of creative writing; as a winter read to curl up with, not so much..

This is a series of tales set around a winter setting, and they definitely fit that description, although I found a lot of the stories hit and miss.

Most of them are wonderfully descriptive, mentioning robins and roasting fires or shingling breezes, but not very much happens. I'm not sure of time periods either. One story mentions war, and 'the Western front' and another Chernobyl, but this is never elaborated on, leaving me to deduce the era on my own. Others explicitly state the date. It's a bit disorientating.

The narrative flits between stories from first person to third and back again, which I also found a little disjointed. I would have preferred all the tales to be set one way or the other - but that's just me.

My favourite story was The Miracle, a story about a woman who goes to visit a dying 'friend' who lives in Glasgow. It was full of emotion and the feeling of loneliness, and although not strictly a 'winter tale' (although there is a mention of a robin) it envoked a certain reminder of how others can feel around the Christmas period.

I think the main issue with these stories is that they were maybe too short. Because of this, I couldn't really feel any connection, and nothing was really developed enough. A light read.

This is a difficult review to write. I was not enjoying this collection of stories until the final one. The effect of this is confusing.

I really, really enjoyed the last short story. It was atmospheric, emotionally charged, and GOOD. The others just felt haphazardly written. Maybe short story formats aren’t for me, but I had trouble understanding the context and trajectory of each until the very last moment when it ended.

I do feel, however, that I read this during the right season. It is definitely a Fall/Winter collection. The season comes through the writing and makes you want to curl up by a fire and drink something warm. I just wish the words captivated me more.

This short story collection seemed to have promise but ultimately it was not for me. The stories were more excerpts than fully formed short stories. Most of the writing read like journal entries rather than storytelling.