It's 1962 and two couples are starting out in life in rural Somerset. They live near to each other, separated by a field. Rita is married to Bill, the farmer, and Irene is married to the local doctor Eric.

Both women are pregnant and are coming to terms with their changing bodies and the inevitability of their futures. The men have their own challenges, too.  

With the onset of winter, all their lives are put in sharp perspective. The temperature plummets and the snowfall turns into violent blizzards and drifts which prevent usual communication and movement.

It's a fabulous story of rural, domestic England in a bitter winter, the coldest on record, telling the tales of just four people and the minutiae of life. It's haunting and moving. A great read.