About the Book
An aristocratic Russian doctor races to contain a deadly plague in an outpost city in Manchuria - before it spreads to the rest of the world. 1910: people are mysteriously dying at an alarming rate in the Russian-ruled city of Kharbin, a major railway outpost in Northern China. Strangely, some of the dead bodies vanish before they can be identified. During a dangerously cold winter in a city gripped by fear, the Baron, a wealthy Russian aristocrat and the city's medical commissioner, is determined to stop this mysterious plague. Battling local customs, an occupying army, and a brutal epidemic with no name, the Baron is torn between duty and compassion, between Western medical science and respect for Chinese tradition. His allies include a French doctor, a black marketeer, and a charismatic Chinese dwarf. His greatest refuge is the intimacy he shares with his young Chinese wife - but she has secrets of her own. Based on a true story that has been lost to history, set during the last days of imperial Russia, The Winter Station is a richly textured and brilliant novel about mortality, fear and love.
About the Author :
Jody Shields is the author of two novels, the bestselling novel The Fig Eater and The Crimson Portrait. Formerly Design Editor of the New York Times magazine and a Contributing Editor of American Vogue, Shields is also a screenwriter and a collected artist. She is a resident of New York City. Simon Vance is an award-winning actor and an AudioFile Golden Voice with over fifty Earphones Awards and thirteen prestigious Audie Awards. He was named Booklist's very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.
Review :
perfect for readers of historical fiction and lovers of thrillers.-- "Signature"
Based on real events, this is the kind of fiction that fascinates with its power to evoke time and place, morality and mortality, tenderness and love.-- "Bookpage"
If you love historical fiction, you don't want to miss The Winter Station.... the perfect moody book to read on a chilly winter day.-- "Hello Giggles"
Like a delicate calligraphy, Jody Shields paints a starkly moving picture of our elusive humanity, as ephemeral and beautiful as snowflakes falling from a frozen sky. The images are unforgettable, and the book highly recommended.-- "Historical Novel Society"
Shields has transformed the scantly recorded memories of the Manchurian plague into a rich narrative, factual in its details and vitalized by the moral complexities of prejudice, politics, honor and responsibility.-- "Lincoln Star Journal "
Shields presents her novel with the detail and fluidity of the early Russian novelists... THE WINTER STATION offers much for readers of historical fiction.-- "Bookreporter"
Shields writes movingly of the human cost of this forgotten epidemic. She reminds us that, to an imperceptible enemy, the lines dividing nations are only a mark on a map.-- "Shelf-Awareness"
The outbreak of plague in Manchuria during the winter of 1910-1911 tests a Russian doctor's physical, emotional, and moral stamina in Shields's accomplished third novel...This fictional portrait of a man caught in a real-life medical crisis proves affecting and timely in its exploration of conflicts between cultures and classes, ambition and mortality, science and politics.-- "Publisher's Weekly"
The slow growth of the horror and helplessness of those who can really see the crises growing is beautifully drawn-- "STAT News"
"The Winter Station is a novel set in Russia that to its great credit reads like a Russian novel. Set early in the 20th Century, it is a story of courage, love, resilience, loyalty during a season of absolute terror. Jody Shields is a fearless writer, with the integrity of a worthy creator, and this novel won't be easily forgotten.-- "Daniel Woodrell, author of The Maid's Version and Winter's Bone"
"A gifted narrator can often salvage a mediocre text, but given a finely written novel, as Simon Vance has here, the result is a showcase of the unique pleasures and sublime artistry of audiobook listening...The voices and accents are diverse, and Vance is a master at rendering character and at maintaining narrative pace and momentum...Shields' prose is incandescent, and her narrator is one of the most gifted and accomplished working today. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award."
-- "AudioFile"
"Like a delicate calligraphy, Jody Shields paints a starkly moving picture of our elusive humanity, as ephemeral and beautiful as snowflakes falling from a frozen sky. The images are unforgettable, and the book highly recommended."
-- "Historical Novel Society"
"Vibrant with intrigue, longing, and history...This book bears a distinct pulse; its beats are tender, evocative, and full of mystery."
-- "Affinity Konar, author of Mischling"
"While the drama lies in the plague and its grisly effects, the true gift of this remarkable novel is its lyrical portrayal of the Baron and his few allies...[and] in re-creating a time when science and reason vie with superstition and prejudice."
-- "Library Journal (starred review)"
[Readers will be] captivated by the atmosphere and the various, essay-like ruminations, which evoke Peter Høeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow (1993).-- "Booklist"
In The Winter Station, Shields imagines a new season, one vibrant with intrigue, longing, and history... This book bears a distinct pulse; its beats are tender, evocative, and full of mystery.-- "Affinity Konar, author of Mischling"
The true gift of this remarkable novel is its lyrical portrayal of the Baron and his few allies...Shields (The Fig Eater) joins the high echelon of Boris Akunin and Sam Eastland in re-creating a time when science and reason vie with superstition and prejudice to protect the helpless subjects of the tsar.-- "Library Journal"
What Shields evokes in her greatest passages...is a fear that pours from the temples: the recognition that we can be set against a swift and terrible force majeure."--Paste Magazine
