Synopses & Reviews
Praise for Christina Bartolomeo and
Snowed In"As sparkling and transcendent as the first snow. With an alchemist's eye, Bartolomeo makes magic with a wonderful new novel about love and friendship, need and self-worth, and the way the past impossibly tugs at the future. Slyly funny---and at times heartbreaking---Snowed In is proof positive that even in the deepest freeze of winter, something miraculous---and rare---can happen."
- Caroline Leavitt, author of Girls in Trouble
"This novel is a gem. Once again, Christina Bartolomeo displays her gifts as a first-rate storyteller. She writes with the wit of Diane Johnson and the heart of Josephine Humphreys. Snowed In tells the story of a young marriage in trouble. It is unflinchingly honest, smart, wistful---as engrossing and revealing as a long conversation with a wise friend. Sophie Quinn, the novel's narrator, is at once clear-eyed and bemused, a closet optimist with a deep streak of fatalism: 'If you're the type that's going to get done in, it happens,' she reports. 'If you're not---and sheer luck has more to do with this than anything---you come to a place where it's just irresistible to get on with things, when all you can think of is that here you are, somehow saved from the wreckage, and now what?'"
- Karl Ackerman, author of The Patron Saint of Unmarried Women
"Snuggle up under your coziest comforter and break out the chocolate! This utterly charming book about finding love and courage is for every woman who has written a to-do list of self-improvement that starts where Sophie's does: 'haircut.' Engaging and funny, I was rooting for Sophie from page one."
- Leslie Pietrzyk, author of A Year and a Day and Pears on a Willow Tree
"Here's a book brimming with comfort and courage. Christina Bartolomeo has written a delightful novel. Snowed In is an enchanting book whose main character grows more charming by the page."
- Mary Kay Zuravleff, author of The Frequency of Souls
"This thoroughly engaging story...explores how fragile love can be."
- Frances Park, author of When My Sister Was Cleopatra Moon
"Christina Bartolomeo's heroine is a character of whom one grows very fond. Snowed In is a lovely, warmly created story of renegotiation and new beginnings."
- Elizabeth Buchan, author of Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman and The Good Wife Strikes Back
Synopsis
No job. No heat. The wrong shoes. The wrong clothes. Discover if true love can be far behind.
Imagine having always lived in Washington, D.C., and suddenly being stuck in Portland, Maine, for a year. With the pipes freezing---inside the house. And a husband who seems to have his eye on a hiking-booted L.L.Bean femme fatale rather than you. Not to mention the mother-in-law from hell who never fails to let you know that you leave much to be desired.
That's Sophie Quinn's life. Lucky for Sophie (an unassertive type who's always favored daydreams over day planners), her new life is about to throw in her lap some weird and valuable opportunities to trample down her fears and transform her prospects for happiness. And true love just might come knocking on her door....
For any woman who has ever had to confront the landlord about the heat, for any woman who has ever longed for impractical shoes instead of sturdy winter boots, for any woman who has ever been in the wrong place at the right time, Snowed In will have you laughing, crying, and rooting for Sophie Quinn.
About the Author
Christina Bartolomeo is the author of
The Side of the Angels and
Cupid and Diana, which was a
New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was adapted for a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie. A native of Washington, D.C., Bartolomeo lives in the Boston area.
Reading Group Guide
1. Is Paul a sympathetic character in any way? How would the novel be different if told from his perspective? Sophie tells her sister Delia on page that Natalie suits Paul "in every way better than I do." Is Paul the real villain of the piece, or simply a mixed-up guy who realizes that he has made a mistake fairly early in his marriage?
2. The book presents a "glamorous and super-competent" career woman figure (Sophie's friend Marta) and an "office schemer" -- the pert, and conniving Natalie. How are Natalie and Marta foils for Sophie and Sophie's approach to career and romance? How are Marta and Sophie's sister Delia foils for each other?
3. How does Sophie's search for a true vocation relate to her search for real love? Does Sophie's search for meaningful work propel her relationship with Ned, or vice versa?
4. Did you feel regret when Sophie turns down a second chance at love with Rory? Sophie says, "I could picture the night [with Rory], how good it would be. I just couldn't see farther....I could not picture SETTING OUT with Rory." What does Sophie mean by this observation? What do you think are Rory's true feelings for Sophie?
5. Pepper Stoddard is a classic figure of comedy: the difficult mother-in-law. Is Pepper believable, and could Sophie have handled her more adroitly for a different result? Do you foresee Natalie getting along with Pepper more amicably than Sophie has, or would Pepper be critical of ANY daughter-in-law?
6. At what point in the book does Ned realize his feelings for Sophie? Why doesn't Ned declare himself sooner?
7. Sophie's feelings about the city of Portland, Maine, change over the course of the book. At the end of the novel, what image of the city is the reader left with? Is the city meant to be portrayed as a true-to-life locale, or should it be seen by the reader as more of a reflection of Sophie's mental and emotional state?
8. How does Donald help Sophie take a stand for herself? Did you feel Donald grew and changed through the course of the novel or is it Sophie's reaction to Donald that changed?