In the Springtime of the Year by Susan Hill
There is some wonderful writing here, and Hill has done an excellent job in fashioning the numbness and insularity of a world that has been overtaken by grief. This is a small life story, almost timeless in its setting (it could be 1920, it could be 1970) in isolated Yorkshire.
After a brief year of a rich and fulfilling marriage to well-regarded forrester Ben, Ruth - the character within which our central narrative swirls - is suddenly widowed at 21. From here, she is plunged into a deep and dark depression. She finds herself unable to leave home and increasingly self-isolates.
Her only visitor is Ben's 14-year-brother, the wonderful Jo. Jo is a beautifully-realised character, one of those fictional people that you just want the best for. In his own way, Jo cares for Ruth through her darkest moments, all the while he himself stumbling through his own grief.
Hill does such a fantastic job in bringing to life the feeling of deep, deep depression that it is at points profoundly difficult going. Yet in the piece's vividness, a wonderful exploration of loss, compassion, grief, mourning and the buds of recovery emerge.
There's no melodrama, no sentimentality, just a massive kick in the guts and then a slow, slow, slow process of recovery. There is a power to this book not commonly found in literature, with the cramped and taciturn community in which it is set affording the time and space to let events play out organically.
Hugely recommended.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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