Winter

The novel focuses on the true events that occurred around the London theatre dramatization of Thomas Hardy’s acclaimed novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, including Hardy’s hand-picked casting of the young, alluring Gertrude “Gertie” Bugler of The Hardy Players to play Tess. As plans for the play become more concrete, Hardy’s interest in Gertie becomes a voyeuristic infatuation, causing him to write some of the best poems of his career. When Hardy’s reclusive wife, Florence, catches wind of Hardy’s desire for Gertie to take the London stage, however, a tangled web of jealousy and missed opportunity ensnares all three characters—with devastating results.

Christopher Nicholson is a writer, living in England. His latest novel, 'Winter', was published by Fourth Estate in January 2014. His two earlier novels are 'The Fattest Man In America' (2005) and 'The Elephant Keeper' (2009). 'The Elephant Keeper' was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Encore Award. A serial adaptation was broadcast as a BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'. He has two children, a son and a daughter. For the past twenty-five years he has lived in the countryside on the border between Wiltshire and Dorset.