The Long Winter

I must have started and set aside a half-dozen books before I settled into The Long Winter. I'm finding it difficult to read in these uncertain times, but I saw Ruth recommending Long Winter on her blog A Great Book Study this week and I decided to give this book a try.

I'm very glad I did. If you are feeling worried and anxious, The Long Winter is a good book to read.

The Long Winter is the true story of the Ingalls family during a terrible season of blizzards that extended from October to late April. The Ingalls moved into town so they would have sturdy quarters as well as access to the supplies the train would bring through the winter. Deep into the winter, they learned the train would not be arriving, and there would be no new supplies. People were terribly worried as that would mean no way to stay warm and no food.

Reading about the way the family and the community worked together to help each other was helpful for me. It was also useful to put our current crisis into perspective. And it was somehow reassuring to see that not everyone was able to act in ways that put the needs of the group ahead of the needs of the individual; this was no whitewashed version of the situation.

This is historical fiction, and the attitudes and prejudices of the times are part of this story, so be prepared for that.

But, in spite of these, The Long Winter is a good story for these times, I think. It reminds me that people have always faced terrible situations, and that we must work together to overcome them, putting the needs of the group before our own selfish interests.