Patrick Gale

Novelist Patrick Gale talks about his new and poignant historical novel of love, relationships, secrets and escape A Place Called Winter – a The Sunday Times bestseller and a pick for the BBC Radio 2 Simon Mayo Book Club.

The novel is loosely based on a real-life family mystery. The story follows shy and conventional Harry Cane who is forced to abandon his wife and child and emigrate to the newly colonised Canadian prairies. He settles on a homestead in a place called Winter which is a world away from his previous life in a turn-of-the century Edwardian suburb. Faced with isolation in a harsh landscape and the threat of war, madness and from a magnetic and evil man, he discovers an inner strength and capacity for love beyond anything he knew before.

Gale was born on the Isle of Wight and spent his infancy at Wandsworth prison, where his father was governor. He now lives in Cornwall and has made a name as one of Britain’s best-loved novelists. His recent works include A Perfectly Good Man, The Whole Day Through and the Richard and Judy bestseller Notes From An Exhibition.

In association with The Woodstock Bookshop.