Park's book is made up of five stories loosely related by an unprecedented snowfall that happened in Northern Ireland in 1963.

A gently deceiving book, the shorter stories would be of little consequence without the snow that transfigured surroundings so much as to make it a different world, and making inconsequential events momentous. Snow muffles and silences, forming an insulation that reduces the world to a microcosm.

My favourite quote is from Snow Trails involving a young man who falls for an older woman. His father, the owner of a general store, also handles funerals and is arranging one for the woman of the previous story. The snow complicates matters and with the help of his son they use a sled to transport the coffin to the cemetery with as much dignity as possible.

"But if it gets any deeper it'll be no laughing matter driving over there to collect the body and then up to the church. The roads'll be mustard, and I bet you there won't be a snow plough to be seen for love or money".

"This country's not cut out for snow. Now if this was Canada they'd laugh at this - it'd be a spit in the ocean to them."

Park has a talent in invoking the reader's empathy. The title story is a police procedural featuring an old-school hard-line detective and a young detective learning the ropes and trying to do his job using newer methods. Possibly less subtle than the others but with the same moody undercurrent.

I can remember this specific memorable snowfall in 1963 and can attest to the atmosphere it created and which Park invokes so well. It was a nostalgic look back on a small segment of my youth when having to help my parents through the difficulty of being cut off from the world made me feel very grown up. I enjoyed this and will be looking for more by Park. ( )