Winter Loon cover art

Winter Loon

A Novel

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £22.99

Buy Now for £22.99

About this listen

A haunting debut novel about family and sacrifice, Winter Loon reminds us of how great a burden the past can be, the toll it exacts, and the freedom that comes from letting it go.

Abandoned by his father after his mother drowns in a frozen Minnesota lake, fifteen-year-old Wes Ballot is stranded with coldhearted grandparents and holed up in his mother’s old bedroom, surrounded by her remnants and memories. As the wait for his father stretches unforgivably into months, a local girl, whose own mother died a brutal death, captures his heart and imagination, giving Wes fresh air to breathe in the suffocating small town.

When buried truths come to light in the spring thaw, wounds are exposed and violence erupts, forcing Wes to embark on a search for his missing father, the truth about his mother, and a future he must claim for himself - a quest that begins back at that frozen lake.

A powerful coming-of-age story, Winter Loon captures the resilience of a boy determined to become a worthy man by confronting family demons, clawing his way out of the darkness, and forging a life from the shambles of a broken past.

©2018 Susan Bernhard. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Women's Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring
All stars
Most relevant
This book massively makes one appreciate his family and the special relationships he has with those around him. I would encourage most to listen/read, but take care - it can get tragic at parts.

A Depressing Read - 100% worth it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This novel gripped and held me up to the end. Wondered when I started whether it was really for me. It is. Beautifully written story of growing up and its agonies, far wider than the usual sexual awakenings and conflicts and including all that has gone before in terms of the screwed relationships with parents and the lack of a secure home. Shows how this plays itself out long after the original family is left behind in terms of the cycle of abuse, and repetitions of early experiences and they way they subtly encourage us to make bad choices throughout life. I would say saddening rather than depressing - it is not without hope, but the hope is a while coming. Fine sense of place all the way through, not described for its own sake but as a companion threading the narrative. The loon (diver in the UK) symbolises much of the struggle for relationship among the characters. Apparently there was a belief at one time that loons mated for life, but this has turned out to be mistaken. Like us, they make the best of the opportunities that present themselves. Well worth a listen.

Wonderful first novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Strugglrd to finish it. Started well and got very boring. Nothing else i can say about it.

Not much of story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.