On Sale –
November 29, 2022
In 1970, in an Arctic town on the far edge of the Soviet Union, a young mother disappears leaving a mystery that haunts her husband and daughter. In the years that follow, Anya becomes a gymnast, part of the grueling state system. Her world is a small constellation: her father Yuri, a one-time crusader for the Party, her friend Sveta, whose fate soon veers sharply from Anya’s, her neighbor Vera, an old woman who survived ten years in a Gulag camp, and her coach Anatoly, both cruel and tender, who will push her as far as she can go. At the national training center outside Moscow Anya meets fellow gymnast Elena who will change everything.
From the wild tundra of Norilsk to the glittering heights of the golden age of Soviet gymnastics to gritty late-nineties Brooklyn, Winterland is the story of a woman—and an era—shaped by glory and loss, about forging a life when you no longer are what you were.
“With meticulous precision and smart, poetic prose, Meadows vaults us into the chilling and eerily relevant world of Soviet-era gymnastics. Get ready to fall in love with eight-year-old Anya, who offers us a heart-wrenching view of what it means to live, love and compete in a sport where one wrong move or the whisper of dissent can ruin you. This book is full of heart.”
New York Times bestselling
author of We Were the Lucky Ones
“Steeped in rich cultural detail and written with the confidence of someone who has spent much time in the trenches of gyms just like the ones Anya inhabits, Winterland will immerse you in rich period detail, the joy and anguish of first love, and the heartache of unimaginable loss and sacrifice. Both a searingly immersive tale and an important book for our times, Winterland is a must-read, for it will remind you that while we may live in a world divided, we are, as individuals, all similarly fragile, hopeful, and ultimately human at our core. Impeccably researched and beautifully written.”
The Book of Lost Names and The Forest of Vanishing Stars
“Winterland is a story as gripping as it is a powerful rendering of the true cost of perfection. In beautifully written, thrilling prose, Rae Meadows takes us deep into the world of the USSR’s gymnastics program. As we see eight-year-old Anya rise to the top of this ultra-competitive and punishing sport, the mystery of the disappearance of her mother begins to unfold. Combining a page turning plot with fully formed characters, Meadows has written a novel that reflects the current moment. I was left breathless.”
author of The Secrets We Kept
“Rae Meadows brings the gruelling world of Olympic dreams to vivid life in Winterland, a searing tale of a young girl finding her path in Soviet-era gymnastics. Anya’s childhood is centered around the mysterious disappearance of her mother, an event that anchors the book in a spiral of questions. Heart-breaking and thought-provoking, imbued with the beautiful fragility and terror of athletic excellence, this is a story of unfolding friendship and adversity that will linger with readers for long afterwards.”
bestselling author of The Night Tiger
“Rae Meadows always writes with absolute clarity and power, and it is a pleasure to soar through the air with her in Winterland, weightless, strong, and capable of anything.”
bestselling author of All Adults Here
“Winterland gripped me from the first page. I loved this story of strong women fighting to keep their humanity in the face of terrible forces: Siberian winters, demanding gymnastics coaches, lost mothers and Gulag camps. Rae Meadows is a gifted writer, and I was thrilled to find myself in a landscape I knew nothing about, rooting for a young gymnast named Anya.”