A Season in the Snow: Escape to the Austrian Alps This Winter

The evenings are drawing in here in Kent, and I am beginning to appreciate those quiet hours indoors a little more. The curtains are closed, there is something warm to drink, and, if I have managed to put the day’s work aside, a book waiting to be opened. At this time of year, the thought of disappearing into a snowy mountain village for a few hours feels particularly inviting.

That is the escape I hope you will find in my latest novel, A Season in the Snow.

Set in St. Johann in Tirol during the winter of 1984–85, the second book in my Sunshine Seasons series takes Thomas Bennett to the Austrian Alps. Readers who met him in A Season in the Sun will remember the Costa Brava, the friendships and the experience of finding his feet overseas. Now the surroundings are changing, and Thomas has another season ahead of him.

From Mediterranean Sunshine to Mountain Snow

One of the pleasures of writing these books is being able to move between destinations that have such different personalities.

In A Season in the Sun, I enjoyed bringing the warmth and bustle of a Spanish summer to the page. With A Season in the Snow, I could explore the atmosphere of an Alpine winter: the mountains above the village, the cold air outside and the welcome of a warm room after a long day.

But it is the people who make somewhere worth staying.

For Thomas, a new season means finding his place again. There are friendships to develop, unfamiliar situations to navigate and the possibility of romance. Working overseas brings people together quickly, often before they have had much chance to understand one another. You share the busy days and the evenings afterwards. Colleagues become friends, and sometimes someone begins to mean rather more than you expected.

That closeness is one of my favourite things to write about. It creates room for laughter and affection, but also misunderstandings, uncertainty and moments that stay with you long after a season ends.

Returning to the Winter of 1984

There is something especially enjoyable about setting a story in the 1980s.

Being away from home felt different then. There were no smartphones to reach for whenever you wanted reassurance, and no social media keeping you informed about everyone you had left behind. You had to make more of the life immediately around you, including the people sharing it.

For anyone who worked overseas during those years, I hope there will be something familiar in that feeling. Perhaps it will bring back a particular friendship, a first season away or the excitement of arriving somewhere you barely knew.

You certainly do not need to have been a holiday rep to enjoy Thomas’s story, though. Starting again, falling in love, making mistakes and wondering where life might take you are experiences that reach well beyond the travel industry.

The Life Behind the Fiction

My years in travel have given me a great deal to draw upon as a writer. I know how quickly an unfamiliar place can begin to feel like home, and how strongly we can associate a destination with the people we knew there.

The Sunshine Seasons books are fiction, but that understanding sits behind them. I want the working days to feel believable, the friendships to matter and the destinations to be places readers can settle into.

I also want there to be warmth and humour. Life overseas can be tiring, unpredictable and occasionally chaotic, but it can be enormous fun. Capturing that mixture is part of what makes writing Thomas’s adventures such a pleasure.

A Little Company for the Longer Evenings

If you enjoy travel, nostalgia, friendship and romance, I would love you to spend some time with A Season in the Snow this winter.

For readers following the series, it is a chance to join Thomas for the next chapter of his life. If you are discovering my books for the first time and would like to follow his journey from the beginning, A Season in the Sun is where it starts.

Thank you to everyone who has already read, reviewed or recommended the books. Sharing these stories is a pleasure, and knowing that readers are enjoying their time with the characters makes it all the more rewarding.

Put the kettle on, find somewhere comfortable and join Thomas in the Austrian Alps.

Discover A Season in the Snow, available on Amazon, or visit my author shop to order a signed copy.