What is Wintering by Katherine May about?
Wintering is Katherine May's 2020 book about the difficult, slowed-down seasons that come to every life, and about treating them as part of a cycle rather than a failure. Written during a hard year for her family, it mixes memoir with stories from literature, myth and the natural world, arranged month by month from September to March. It suits anyone going through a quiet or difficult patch who wants company rather than a programme.
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The full title is Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, and it was published in the UK by Rider in 2020. According to Wikipedia's page on Katherine May, it became a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and was longlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize for nature writing. Quite a run for a quiet book about slowing down.
The idea: fallow seasons
May's central image is winter, not as a date on the calendar but as a time in a life: after a loss, during an illness in the family, in a period of exhaustion or when plans fall apart. The publisher's description presents these fallow periods as part of a cycle, like the seasons, rather than as a straight line going wrong. Winter, in this view, is not something to fight or rush through. It is a time to withdraw a little, look after what matters and wait for the thaw.
That is the whole argument, and it is a gentle one. There are no steps, no system, no promise that anything will be fixed by chapter ten.
How the book is built
The structure is simple and lovely. According to the publisher's reader's guide, the book is divided into sections named after months, running from September through to late March. Each one moves between May's own year and something she finds or reads along the way.
The memoir thread follows a hard stretch for her family; Wikipedia's page notes it was a time when her husband became seriously ill. Around it, May gathers stories and small experiences: honeybees, cooking and baking in the dark months, walks on the beach, lighting a winter fire with her son. A chapter on grief draws on memories of her grandmother. The book ends with the thaw.
The effect is something like a long winter walk with a thoughtful friend who keeps pointing things out.
What it is not
Not a self-help manual. It has no exercises or plans, and it does not tell you how to feel. Readers who want practical steps may find it too meditative.
Not a nature book in the field-guide sense. The natural world is a source of images and comfort rather than the main subject.
Not a medical book. It is about how one writer lived through a hard season, not advice on any particular condition. Anyone struggling with something heavier than a low patch deserves proper support as well as good books.
Who it suits
- People going through a pause they did not choose: a loss, a change, a slow recovery in the family, a career gap.
- Readers who enjoy memoir braided with ideas, in the manner of the personal essay.
- Anyone who finds the dark months hard and wants to look at them differently. Our page on staying active in winter covers the practical side of getting outside when it is cold and dark.
- Fans of slow-living books such as In Praise of Slowness, though Wintering is more personal and less of an argument.
It suits less well if you want brisk prose or concrete advice.
How to read it
Read it in winter, obviously, but more usefully, read it month by month alongside the real calendar: a section at the start of each month from September onwards. It makes the book a companion through the season rather than a single sitting, which is very much in its spirit.
FAQ
Is Wintering sad?
It deals with hard things, including illness in the family and grief, but the tone is warm and hopeful. Many readers find it comforting rather than heavy.
Is it only about winter?
No. Winter is the metaphor. The book is about any difficult season in a life, whatever the weather.
Is it a good gift?
For someone in a hard patch, often yes, though it is worth knowing them well enough to judge whether they want a reflective book or simply company and soup.
What should you read next?
For a book that also argues for stepping back, but with a sharper edge about attention and modern life, try our page on Jenny Odell's How to Do Nothing.
Sources
Written by the Zestasy editors. General information for curious adults, not medical, nutrition or training advice.