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    The Winter Ghosts
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    The Winter Ghosts
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    The Winter Ghosts
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Winter Ghosts

    Written by Kate Mosse

    Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    By the author of the New York Times-bestselling Labyrinth, a story of two lives touched by war and transformed by courage.

    In the winter of 1928, still seeking some kind of resolution to the horrors of World War I, Freddie is traveling through the beautiful but forbidding French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Dazed, he stumbles through the woods, emerging in a tiny village, where he finds an inn to wait out the blizzard. There he meets Fabrissa, a lovely young woman also mourning a lost generation.

    Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, Freddie will have unearthed a tragic, centuries-old mystery, and discovered his own role in the life of this remote town.

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 3, 2011
    ISBN9781101484494
    Unavailable
    The Winter Ghosts
    Author

    Kate Mosse

    Kate Mosse CBE FRSL is an award-winning novelist, playwright, performer, campaigner, interviewer and non-fiction writer. The author of ten novels and short-story collections, her books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and published in more than forty countries. Fiction includes the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre, Citadel), The Joubert Family Chronicles (The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship, The Map of Bones) and No 1 bestselling Gothic fiction including The Taxidermist’s Daughter and The Winter Ghosts. Her highly-acclaimed non-fiction includes An Extra Pair of Hands: A Story of Caring & Everyday Acts of Love and Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World, which inspired her one-woman theatre touring show. A regular guest on radio and television for literature, Kate hosts the pre-show interview series at Chichester Festival Theatre and is a regular interviewer for literary and arts festivals including Letters Live, the Hay Festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the British Library and the Royal National Theatre. Her new podcast, The Matilda Effect, will be launched in summer 2024. The Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction – the world’s largest annual literary awards celebrating writing by woman - she is the founder of the global #WomanInHistory campaign and has her own monthly YouTube book show, Mosse on a Monday. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Kate is also an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Authors, a Visiting Professor of Contemporary Fiction and Creative Writing at the University of Chichester and President of the Festival of Chichester. In the broader arts, Kate is President of the Festival of Chichester, Patron of the Chichester Cathedral Festival of Flowers 2024, Vice-Patron of the Chichester Cathedral Platinum Music Trust and Patron of the Chichester Festival of Music, Dance and Speech. She is also an Ambassador for Parkinsons UK.

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    Reviews for The Winter Ghosts

    3.5/5

    377 ratings65 reviews

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    • 3/5
      The story is lovely and romantic, and will not appeal to someone seeking action. That said, if you enjoy a ghost story encased in a human's process of dealing with grief, this should work for you.

      I found the midi music included as transitions in the audiobook to be too melodramatic for my tastes.
    • 2/5
      This book was disappointing after "Labyrinth" and "Sepulchre" by the same author, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The plot was thin and the characters uninspiring. When the book ended, it was a case of "is that it?" The story line could have been so much better and far more engrossing than it was.
    • 4/5
      This was a wonderful audiobook, read by a great narrator. I suspect that it was his nuanced way of speaking that engaged me because the book seemed to take forever to get to the action. I didn't mind because it seemed like every sentence had meaning. Had I been reading it myself I suspect there would have been some skimming going on. The plot is interesting enough. No scary spooky.
    • 3/5
      More from the land of the Cathars and another ghost story. Well written, but a bit slight.
    • 3/5
      An unusual book. Set in the 1920's in a small village in France.
    • 5/5
      It was predictable but still a great story
    • 2/5
      Freddie is still grieving the loss of his brother in the Great War, and on the advice of his doctors he is touring around France to help his nerves. One snowy night he finds himself in the village of Nulle, suffering concussion and fever after a car accident. There he meets a mysterious woman named Fabrissa, talks the night through, and then loses track of her. Alas, the plot is pretty thin and I figured out the "twist" about eight years before Freddie did (or, I believe, the reader was meant to), largely because it's been done so many, many times before. It was a decent tale despite its generic plot, and the description of the French Pyrenees was lovely, but it really should have been a short story.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this but admittedly it is a style of book that I love. Romance, war, ghosts, tragedy, history - blend them together and it's something I probably won't be able to resist.

      The protagonist is likeable and sympathetic - Freddie is a young man who is still struggling to cope with his brother's death in the war and in his grief has stumbled through life in his shadow, ending up in an asylum due to his extreme grief and eventually deciding to travel to France. While there he loses control of his car and comes to the realisation that he doesn't want to die and that seems to be the turning point of his story. He crashes his car, but survives and finds his way to a guest-house in an small village and while there he decides to go to a festival in the town. When he gets there he meets a beautiful young woman called Fabrissa and the two share their stories through the night before he wakes up in the morning with her gone and only memories of their night together and the stories she told him.

      I loved this - I found the 'love' story touching because how can you not be touched by the idea of a love story spanning time? But the greatest aspect of it wasn't so much that she was waiting for Freddie - it was that she was waiting for anyone and it just so happened to be Freddie and what he gave her was so much greater than anything like a great romance, and what she gave him in return was so much more poignant than a love story. The theme is reconciliation - coming to terms with the past, accepting it, learning from it and being able to move forward. Kinda hard not to be able to take something from a story like that.

      Both Freddie and Fabrissa's stories are tragic, but the book doesn't leave you depressed. My only complaint with it was that I almost wish it was longer. I understand that the book was expanded from a short story, but I almost wish she could have tacked on another hundred pages or so but that seems like a minor gripe. Definitely worth a read.
    • 4/5
      A little gem of a book. A delightful, intriguing fairytale. Beautiful physical presention--heft, size, cover design, quality of paper, etc. Perfect as a gift for a romantically inclined friend. As an digital book, it wouldn't have a certain quality.
    • 4/5
      Quite a pleasant read, an interesting story. I have read some other works that involve the Cathars and find it intriguing. A quick read as well - I recommend it, might be good discussion for book clubs as well
    • 3/5
      I really like the intrigue of this book - two lost souls sharing their stories, surrounded by shrouded history and tragedy, set in the deep, dark cold of winter in the Pyrenees Mountains in France. I found it interesting to read the variety of reviews on it - reader's opinion's vary from fantastic to too-painful-to-finish. I am somewhere in the middle. I did enjoy reading it, and I did like the complexity of the story. I do recognize, however, that it's very mystery might be objectionable to some readers and adored by others.
    • 4/5
      I have enjoyed reading this book. It was a simple tale but never the less it was beautiful.You really start to understand the pain of the main character and see immediately what attracts him so much in Fabrissa's story.
    • 3/5
      I'd expected more from this, given Mosse's reputation - I've not read any of her work before so this was my introduction. It's a very well written ghost story, but the plot is the same as many other ghost stories, so I kept thinking I'd read it before somewhere. No surprises at all really.However, the times and settings are very good indeed, but it still feels like a slight novel to me.
    • 3/5
      I have been wanting to read this novel, from the perspective of ghost story and World War One narrative, for some time, but I'm not sure I missed anything by waiting. A story within a story, in imitation of Wilkie Collins (but more Susan Hill), The Winter Ghosts is a traditional tale about a traveller who stumbles upon a haunted village in the woods. Freddie is irritating and weak-willed, feeling sorry for himself because his brother was killed in France and his parents didn't take into account how he was suffering too. So he jaunts off to the Pyrenees to get over his breakdown, crashes his car, and stumbles around in a daydream, attending a fete and meeting a girl named Fabrissa who may or may not be real. The supernatural element was blatantly obvious, and I didn't really buy into the grand love affair between Freddie and Fabrissa either, but the narrative was neatly paced and didn't drag.
    • 2/5
      The problems I had with this book are two-fold. It should have been a short story rather than a novel. Because so much of the story was told as a descriptive narrative, I had a very difficult time connecting with or caring about the protagonist. I would not chose to read another novel by her.
    • 5/5
      This was a very fast-paced gripping reading. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. A man trapped in the mourning of his brother is on a trip in the Pyrenees to consult a librian who should translate a letter which is written in an ancient language. Before the librian will translate this letter the man has to explain how he came across it. Kate Mosse is a master to put historical facts into a novella. In this case the background of this story is based on the Christian heresy now referred to as Catharism which took place in the 12th/13th century. I read a lot of books about Catharism and this one I enjoyed very much.
    • 3/5
      A car careens off the road in the snow covered Pyrenees mountain of France, was it an accident or fate?Almost a decade has passed since the end of WWI and Freddie Watson still mourns the loss of his brother who died in battle. He sets off from England to find where his died but instead he finds himself stranded in a remote village during a blizzard. It is there that he meets Fabrissa, a woman also in mourning, who shares her story of loss and suffering. What secrets does she hold? Can she help him move on or will he help her? I enjoyed her other work, Labyrinth, so I was familiar with the author. It was a quick read, both for its fast paced structure and it brevity in length. (I just read it began as a short story which would explain the length) I found it a bit predictable but it kept me interested. Even though I was familiar with the history of the Cathars, I would have like a bit more background or explanation in the book. Overall I did enjoy the read.
    • 3/5
      Good story but not as fully developed as her other novels. I could easily guess the ending from the beginning, thanks to a talky sort of title, but enjoyable overall.
    • 4/5
      Highly enjoyable (though totally predictable) ghost story; well written, enjoyable, very quick. I like a good ghost story now and again and although this wasn't among the creepiest of the ones I've read, it was good.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book I've read by Kate Mosse and I will be reading more of her work. This is beautifully written, there is a real sense of place and atmosphere to the story. I read this over two days and it's unusual for me to get through a book this quickly. However, I was stopped from giving it the full 5 stars as I found myself wanting more from it: more supernatural events leading up to the climax maybe, or just a longer read. I also guessed the ending when I was not far into the book. But overall I really enjoyed the story.
    • 4/5
      The best one yet. I love the split time sequencing. Very well written and a wonderful read.
    • 3/5
      I have mixed feelings about this book. The setting and the description of the main character driving round France and the places he goes are very atmospheric and really well written. The story itself is a bit wishy washy and feels like a short story that was fleshed out with lots of description but not much else. Billed as a ghost story like Susan Hill or others, it was really just a sad story based on historical facts, and not much else. It was also billed as a love story but again this didn't feel real. But I enjoyed reading it for the atmosphere that was created, and the desciptions of post war France, and how people were affected by the war.
    • 3/5
      The Winter Ghosts felt more like a novella than a full novel: it was a very quick read. Mind you, I found Kate Mosse's other books to be very quick reads, too. It's funny, though, with her books -- I don't remember much of the plots, only the scenery therein, and the devices she used to tell the story (thankfully not in operation here, though it still feels a bit clumsy, of which more in a moment). I have a vague recollection of feeling comfortable, of curling up with the books with rain outside, but not of the actual plot. I have a feeling this one will be similar within very short order.

      It's a ghost story, but not exactly creepy, and a lot of the tension that could be there is taken out of it by knowing that, to tell the story, the narrator has to have survived, at least in some sense. The main character is a bit character-less, defined mostly by the death of his brother and his driven urge to help the girl he meets, Fabrissa. I guessed all along what the plot was, but there was still the draw of the scenery, the quiet feeling of snow on stone and the branches of trees.

      The structure is clumsy in that I can't believe the narrator of the middle chunk is actually sitting down telling his story in that way. It's very contrived, and the tone is more that of an internal monologue than of a storyteller.

      So, yes, a curl up with for a cosy evening sort of book. It's fun enough, but unmemorable to me. ETA a day later: I've... already forgotten the name of the main male character. If that is indicative of anything to you. So yes, a very transient read: fun while it lasted, but...
    • 3/5
      I really enjoy Kate Mosse's writing, but I also think part of her appeal is the beautiful cover art on her books, as well as her alluring titles. This one especially -- who can resist? However, that being said, I didn't enjoy this one quite as well as her previous novels. Granted, this is more of a short story, and perhaps that had something to do with it. Considering its brevity, I didn't feel really involved in this one until nearly the very end. The remainder of the book was too slow-moving for me. So overall, mixed feelings. The ending was very haunting & powerful, but it was a little bit of a chore getting there.
    • 3/5
      Twelve years after the death of his brother George during the First World War, Freddie Watson still grieves for him. Having spent some time in a sanatorium, his doctor finally recommends a spell in France to help restore his shattered nerves. Eventually, Freddie arrives in Tarascon, in the south west of France, in the middle of winter. Driving along the mountain road one day, he crashes his car in the wintry conditions and walks down to the village of Nulle to seek help. It is the day of the feast of St Etienne, and the proprietress of the boarding house where he’s staying invites him to spend the evening celebrating with the locals. Almost against his better judgment, he sets off and encounters amongst the villagers a beautiful, mysterious young woman named Fabrissa. Recognising in her a kindred spirit, they talk through the night until soldiers burst in and they are forced to flee. But all is not as it seems …This is a rather tame ghost story which has its roots in classic ghost stories such as The Turn of the Screw and offerings by Edith Wharton and M R James, according to the author, as well as the bloody history of the Ariège region during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Mainly it appears as a psychological study of grief, though, especially the grief experienced by men that was deemed publicly unacceptable. The descriptions of the snowy foothills of the Pyrenees after the First World War are atmospheric enough, as is the feeling of grief that is still experienced by the families of English and French soldiers alike, the ubiquitous war memorials a constant reminder of the losses suffered a hundred thousand-fold and appearing like scars in the landscape. But because it is very clear to the reader from the blurb on the back cover what Freddie won’t at first acknowledge, there is no ambiguity and consequently no tension, and the whole novel reads more like a slightly supernatural love story with an historic angle.The author has included a brief short story in which she places Freddie’s older brother George in the same geographical location as Freddie, only during the tail-end of the previous century, imagining “how satisfying, if a little sad” this would appear to the reader. I wish anyone had pointed out to the author that this was a physical impossibility as George was described as never having reached his majority before he was killed on the eve of the Battle of the Somme, and the story clearly references George’s military days in the Transvaal before his extended stay in France. This left me with an intense feeling of annoyance and sloppy research, so that I started to question whether the same approach to dates and historical accuracy might also apply to other parts in this and her other novels. I’m afraid the jury is still out on this one.
    • 2/5
      Grieving brother taking a drive tour wrecks his car on a snowy mountain road and ends up in the Brigadoon of France, although it sounded an awful lot like it was in Italy.
    • 4/5
      This is a story within a story within a story. So what purpose does storytelling have for Ms. Mosse? In this novel the multiple stories seemed to remove me from the characters - making them less real. But this is a tale about ghosts, so maybe that works in favor of the atmosphere. My biggest complaint was that the main character took forever and a day to figure out what was really going on.
    • 3/5
      An excellent three and a half hour read! A light book but enthralling, despite being able to guess the end from almost the beginning (but then I am very familiar with tales of the Cathars).Set in the Ariѐge region of France, nearly a decade after the end of the first World War, the main character Freddie - still desperately struggling to come to terms with the death on the battlefields of France of his beloved older brother George - ends up in an isolated village in Haute Vallee of the Pyrenees.In Nulle it is the Feast of St. Stephen. Freddie is invited to the celebrations and, though still reeling from a near-death car accident and the unsettlingly strange sights and sounds he experienced on his desperate scramble through the dark mountain forests down to the village, he decides to accept. Here, at the antique celebration of the festival he meets the lovely Fabrissa to whom he finds he can bear his soul and unburden his heart of the terrible feelings of loss he has suffered alone now for so many, many years.The Winter Ghosts purports to be a ghost story and I suppose on the surface it is. However, it is more than that .... the telling of the historic end of the Cathars in southern France. The book is about extreme melancholia: the pain and anguish and constant torment of grief not understood. It is through the horror of Fabrissa’s story that Freddie is transformed. By his experience in Nulle he at last finds the ability to embrace life rather than dwell among those who have died.
    • 4/5
      ‘’The dead leave their shadows, an echo of the space within which once they lived. They haunt us, never fading or growing older as we do. The loss we grieve is not just their futures, but our own’’ I brought The Winter Ghosts as one of my first ever e-books nearly two years ago, so I’ve no idea why I even choose it – I think because it sounded like a sad and intense story, set in France, which has always held a fascination for me. The Winter Ghosts is a slow story, but it is the type of story that should be. The descriptions of regional France and the thoughts and feelings of the main character, Frederick, are beautifully told, with great detail and atmosphere. It’s not a scary ghost story, it’s a melancholy ghost story, with some sad moments and a sense of history and mystery thrown in for good measure. The illustrations throughout the book are perfectly matched to the tone, and add an extra dimension. I really enjoyed this book – it’s not action packed, but reads quickly and engrossingly, with beautiful writing.
    • 4/5
      A good Ghost story of the 'not scary' type. Predictable plot and not as engaging as Labyrinth but well written and an enjoyable read.