December Book

Centered on a young girl who inexplicably stops speaking, December is a riveting and insightful portrait of a family in crisis.

Nine months after eleven-year-old Isabelle suddenly fell silent, her parents, Wilson and Ruth, are at their wits' end. And what began as self-protection has spiraled beyond Isabelle's control; she has become trapped in her silence, horrified by the pain she is causing and terrified of losing her old self to this cold young girl she barely recognizes. Isabelle must confront her overwhelming anger and love for her family, a cast of charming yet dangerous characters, and her own fears, before finally finding her voice.

The New York Times - Polly Morrice

To appreciate December, which offers the pleasures of beautifully composed scenes and, when it shifts to Isabelle's point of view, an exact rendering of a child's acute perceptions, the reader must accept that Isabelle has fallen under a sort of existential spell. The fact that her father, Wilson, calls her Belle bolsters the impression that this is a modern fairy tale, and so does the novel's deadline-driven structure…December posits the old-fashioned thesis that family love can conquer many ills. Some may discount this notion as too hopeful, but others will find, in Winthrop's exact but tender portraits of domestic rituals, enough evidence to support it.