Not quite as strange and not quite as disorientating as her other works, The Wood At Midwinter is now one of my favourite Clarke novels. I felt fully immersed in the atmosphere and felt the book delivered the perfect amount of whimsical magic needed at Christmas.
The fact that the audiobook is read by the author means that the reading feels authentic and the listener knows that the character's voices and the pace of the narrative are delivered in a way that the author envisaged.

The only thing I would change is to make the novel longer!

The Wood at Midwinter is a short story immersed in a magical winter atmosphere mixed with folklore. I just wish it were a little bit longer and the characters were more fleshed out. This is the first Susanna Clarke story I've read, so I feel it's the perfect starting point to approach her work.
I enjoyed the Afterword section a lot. I found the author's explanation of her process for creating this story very interesting. Overall, it's a nice story to listen to as winter nears.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC.

This was an interesting short story, but I enjoyed the afterword by the author more than the story itself. Audiobook narrated by the author was really good.
Thanks to netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook review copy of The Wood at Midwinter. I really enjoyed Piranesi, so I thought this would be a good read for December!

The Wood at Midwinter is a short story by Susanna Clarke. The main character, Merowdis, is able to talk to animals and trees. She loves spending time in nature, and one wintry afternoon she comes across a blackbird and a fox, as well as something mysterious.

I will note that the physical copy has illustrations, but as I listened to the audiobook, I can’t comment on those. I did see a few pictures online though and they look great! I found the afterword really interesting and it made me want to check out the stories she discussed by Jorge Luis Borges.

Like with Piranesi, I absolutely loved the writing style. The descriptions of the setting were beautiful and vivid. Clarke made all the characters come alive, especially the animals, and she really captured the winter atmosphere.

There are themes of folklore and religion, which are also very fitting for the Christmas season. This was magical with a really soothing tone. I think this could fit well as part of a larger set of stories, or even as a prequel or something. The end especially intrigued me!

This was a very short read, and unless a short story is exceptional, it’s rare that it will be a 5 star read for me. I could have read a longer story, definitely! Still, I definitely enjoyed this. If you like Susanna Clarke’s other works, or want a descriptive, short winter read, then I’d recommend this.

One of the most lyrical and gorgeous books I’ve read all year, and it accomplishes all this in a 30 minute audiobook???

I adored this from the start, the story weaves gorgeously. I desperately want to walk through the setting and world that is built and the background sounds and music enhances this short audiobook to another level!! Highly recommend.

This was a suitably atmospheric winter tale from Susanna Clarke that had a lot of the same vibes as her previous works. I particularly enjoyed the afterword, in which Clarke explains her thought process behind the tale and with which I thoroughly agree that there should be more pigs in books! Overall, a fun festive listen that I would recommend.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.