Winter Willow

"During a winter season in the mid-1970s, unexpected and dramatic events shape the lives of three people living in the mansion, Winter Willow. The narrator Melanie, a young graduate student, while suffering the loss of her mother and main support system, discovers her funding has been cancelled. On her way to the university shortly after being told this she meets Stone, owner of Winter Willow, and is offered a position as his assistant. Moving in with him during that snowy and isolating season not only creates a strange sleepiness that makes it difficult for Melanie to concentrate on her studies, but also serves to disrupt the life and routine of Stone and Celeste, his housekeeper. When Melanie meets and begins a relationship with a fellow grad student, she is confronted with the choice between a future with him and her life with Stone at Winter Willow. This novel shows the moment when a life can change, the pivot upon which the future depends."--