If I read fiction these days, I usually stick with stories that take place in North America. I rarely venture overseas for settings. Yet, someone whom I follow on social media regularly touts the virtues of Winter Solstice, especially when she suggests "cozy" books or ones that make for good holiday reading. She repeats this chorus often enough that I figured I should at least give Rosamunde Pilcher's writing a try. So I finally borrowed the book through our library system, and I settled down with it, into the long holiday weekend in December, in order to direct my fullest attention to events in a few villages in the British Isles. And I have to admit that I'm glad I did.

Books can be deemed to be "cozy" when the storyline is relatively simple or superficial. This is not the case here. The term can also be used to describe books that you can polish off in the course of one lazy, rainy or snowy day. This is not the case here, either -- not when the reading experience involves more than 450 pages. This is a substantial and character-complex work. And the setting is yet another character to get to know.

If a main character exists here, she must be Elfrida Phipps. Elfrida is an interesting person, all on her own. She is a former London-based actress, who also traveled and performed in shows around the country. She seems to have a varied history with personal relationships, and is currently on her own, except for her little dog, Horace. Elfrida retires from all of it and buys a tiny cottage in a small village, where she at first knows no one. Gradually she meets some of her neighbors and the village merchants. And she gets caught up enough in their lives that eventually she ends up moving temporarily to ANOTHER country village, this time to the north, in rural Scotland.

I can't include more details without revealing spoilers to the story. Yet, it is here in Corrydale that the best parts of the tale take place. Elfrida and a companion set themselves up in a sizable old house. And eventually, as Christmas approaches, a few more people join the household. Most are strangers to one another. And so, as sufficient snowfall limits how far folks can venture from one village to another, this ragtag group of people decides to live within their special circumstances and to spend the holiday together. Several mini-dramas arise, of course. And we wonder if this Christmas will truly be a merry one for all.

The characters' lives are all more complex than my hints above describe. And not all of the action involves Elfrida. Among other folks, there are marriages and divorces and second marriages and children from every pairing. There are houses to be moved in and out of, and estates to be dealt with or broken up or sold. There are tragedies and there are comedies. Most of the action takes place in rural Britain, with some parts still based in London or in other cities. Chapters are labeled with character names, so that readers have advanced warning about whose storyline will come to the forefront. Since the whole book is written in third person anyway, the titling seems hardly necessary. It serves just as a little prod and a nod in a certain direction.

I liked getting to understand the range of characters, and I liked the settings. For some reason, the whole piece reminded me of the Anne of Green Gables book series by L. M. Montgomery, which was based on Prince Edward Island. (I went back and re-read the whole series earlier in the year, and it still lingered in my mind.) Maybe it's because the main focus is a northern countryside, and it's snowy, but a beach and the sounds of the sea are nearby. The age-old and interesting houses are nice and warm, and they always have good food to eat in them. And the people who end up in these houses aren't carved in a "traditional family" fashion. They seem to be open and welcoming to anyone who shows up. Just as Elfrida and her companion are, here.

In the end, I too can now heartily recommend Pilcher's Winter Solstice to anyone who is looking for an intriguing reading experience, and a set of new stories and characters to settle down with during a several-day snowstorm. This book is satisfying on many levels, with most of the plot lines resolving in the ways that readers may have wished for. I can almost guarantee that you will be smiling when you reach the bottom of the last page.