
August into Winter
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy Now for $32.63
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
R.H. Thomson
-
Kelley Jo Burke
-
Written by:
-
Guy Vanderhaeghe
About this listen
National Best Seller
The first novel in nearly a decade from the three-time Governor General's Award‒winning author of The Last Crossing, August Into Winter is an epic story of crime and retribution, of war and its long shadow, and of the redemptive possibilities of love.
You carried the past into the future on your back, its knees and arms hugging you tighter with every step.
It is 1939, with the world on the brink of global war, when Constable Hotchkiss confronts the spoiled, narcissistic man-child Ernie Sickert about a rash of disturbing pranks in their small prairie town. Outraged and cornered, Ernie commits an act of unspeakable violence, setting in motion a course of events that will change forever the lives of all in his wake.
With Loretta Pipe — the scrappy 12-year-old he idealizes as the love of his life — in tow, Ernie flees town. In close pursuit is Corporal Cooper, who enlists the aid of two brothers, veterans of World War One: Jack, a sensitive, spiritual man with a potential for brutal violence; and angry, impetuous Dill, still recovering from the premature death of his wife who, while on her deathbed, developed an inexplicable obsession with the then-teenaged Ernie Sickert.
When a powerful storm floods the prairie roads, wreaking havoc, Ernie and Loretta take shelter in a one-room schoolhouse where they are discovered by the newly arrived teacher, Vidalia Taggart. Vidalia has her own haunted past, one that has driven her to this stark and isolated place with only the journals of her lover Dov, recently killed in the Spanish Civil War, for company. Dill, arriving at the schoolhouse on Ernie's trail, falls hard and fast for Vidalia — but questions whether he can compete with the impossible ideal of a dead man.
Guy Vanderhaeghe, writing at the height of his celebrated powers, has crafted a tale of unrelenting suspense against a backdrop of great moral searching and depth. His is a canvas of lavish, indelible detail: of character, of landscape, of history — in all their searing beauty but all their ugliness, too. Vanderhaeghe does not shrink from the corruption, cruelty, and treachery that pervade the world. Yet even in his clear-eyed depiction of evil — a depiction that frequently and delightfully turns darkly comic — he will not deny the possibility of love, of light. With August Into Winter, Guy Vanderhaeghe has given us a masterfully told, masterfully timed story for our own troubled hearts.
©2021 Guy Vanderhaeghe (P)2021 McClelland & StewartYou may also enjoy...
-
The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.
-
-
Fabulous Story
- By poppies4me on 2019-10-12
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
The Horse
- A Novel
- Written by: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Al Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he’s lost, and his life as a touring musician. Hampered by insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a chronic lethargy that keeps him from moving back to town, Al finds himself teetering on the edge of madness and running out of reasons to go on—until a horse arrives on his doorstep: nameless, blind, and utterly helpless.
Written by: Willy Vlautin
-
The Thirst
- A Harry Hole Novel
- Written by: Neil Smith - translator, Jo Nesbø
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Police - the last novel featuring Jo Nesbø's hard-bitten, maverick Oslo detective - a killer wreaking revenge on the police had Harry Hole fighting for the safety of the people closest to him. Now, in The Thirst, the story continues as Harry is inextricably drawn back into the Oslo police force. A serial murderer has begun targeting Tinder daters - a murderer whose MO reignites Harry's hunt for a nemesis of his past.
-
-
Very captivating
- By Anonymous User on 2022-12-17
Written by: Neil Smith - translator, and others
-
In Search of a Kingdom
- Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire
- Written by: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this grand and thrilling narrative, the acclaimed biographer of Magellan, Columbus, and Marco Polo brings alive the singular life and adventures of Sir Francis Drake, the pirate/explorer/admiral whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed the course of history.
-
-
High adventure, war and the birth of England.
- By Jesse Bongfeldt on 2023-05-31
Written by: Laurence Bergreen
-
The Liars' Club
- A Memoir
- Written by: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Liars’ Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karr’s comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salinger’s—a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at age twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all.
-
-
Incredible!!!
- By Meghann Hubert on 2023-08-10
Written by: Mary Karr
-
Snow Road Station
- A Novel
- Written by: Elizabeth Hay
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Hay
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the winter of 2008, as snow falls without interruption, an actor in a Beckett play blanks on her lines. Fleeing the theatre, she beats a retreat into her past and arrives at Snow Road Station, a barely discernible dot on the map of Ontario. The actor is Lulu Blake, in her sixties now, a sexy, seemingly unfooled woman well-versed in taking risks. Out of work, humiliated, she enters the last act of her life wondering what she can make of her diminished self.
-
-
FABULOUS!!!
- By PWL on 2024-11-29
Written by: Elizabeth Hay
-
The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.
-
-
Fabulous Story
- By poppies4me on 2019-10-12
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
The Horse
- A Novel
- Written by: Willy Vlautin
- Narrated by: Willy Vlautin
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Al Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he’s lost, and his life as a touring musician. Hampered by insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a chronic lethargy that keeps him from moving back to town, Al finds himself teetering on the edge of madness and running out of reasons to go on—until a horse arrives on his doorstep: nameless, blind, and utterly helpless.
Written by: Willy Vlautin
-
The Thirst
- A Harry Hole Novel
- Written by: Neil Smith - translator, Jo Nesbø
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Police - the last novel featuring Jo Nesbø's hard-bitten, maverick Oslo detective - a killer wreaking revenge on the police had Harry Hole fighting for the safety of the people closest to him. Now, in The Thirst, the story continues as Harry is inextricably drawn back into the Oslo police force. A serial murderer has begun targeting Tinder daters - a murderer whose MO reignites Harry's hunt for a nemesis of his past.
-
-
Very captivating
- By Anonymous User on 2022-12-17
Written by: Neil Smith - translator, and others
-
In Search of a Kingdom
- Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire
- Written by: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this grand and thrilling narrative, the acclaimed biographer of Magellan, Columbus, and Marco Polo brings alive the singular life and adventures of Sir Francis Drake, the pirate/explorer/admiral whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed the course of history.
-
-
High adventure, war and the birth of England.
- By Jesse Bongfeldt on 2023-05-31
Written by: Laurence Bergreen
-
The Liars' Club
- A Memoir
- Written by: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Liars’ Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karr’s comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salinger’s—a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at age twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all.
-
-
Incredible!!!
- By Meghann Hubert on 2023-08-10
Written by: Mary Karr
-
Snow Road Station
- A Novel
- Written by: Elizabeth Hay
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Hay
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the winter of 2008, as snow falls without interruption, an actor in a Beckett play blanks on her lines. Fleeing the theatre, she beats a retreat into her past and arrives at Snow Road Station, a barely discernible dot on the map of Ontario. The actor is Lulu Blake, in her sixties now, a sexy, seemingly unfooled woman well-versed in taking risks. Out of work, humiliated, she enters the last act of her life wondering what she can make of her diminished self.
-
-
FABULOUS!!!
- By PWL on 2024-11-29
Written by: Elizabeth Hay
-
Life in the City of Dirty Water
- A Memoir of Healing
- Written by: Clayton Thomas-Muller
- Narrated by: Clayton Thomas-Muller
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There have been many Clayton Thomas-Mullers: The child who played with toy planes as an escape from domestic and sexual abuse, enduring the intergenerational trauma of Canada's residential school system; the angry youngster who defended himself with fists and sharp wit against racism and violence, at school and on the streets of Winnipeg and small-town British Columbia; the tough teenager who, at 17, managed a drug house run by members of his family, and slipped in and out of juvie, operating in a world of violence and pain.
-
-
nimôskomik
- By Stacey on 2025-04-02
Written by: Clayton Thomas-Muller
-
The Hammer of Eden
- A Novel
- Written by: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The FBI doesn't believe it. The governor wants the problem to disappear. But Agent Judy Maddox knows the threat is real: an extreme group of ecoterrorists has the means and the know-how to set off a massive earthquake of epic proportions. For California, time is running out. Now Maddox is scrambling to hunt down a petty criminal turned cult leader turned homicidal mastermind. Because she knows that the dying has already begun.
-
-
Not Follett's best, but worth the read!
- By Darryl on 2019-03-06
Written by: Ken Follett
-
The Lost English Girl
- Written by: Julia Kelly
- Narrated by: Danielle Cohen, Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liverpool, 1935: Raised in a strict Catholic family, Viv Byrne knows what’s expected of her: marry a Catholic man from her working-class neighborhood and have his children. However, when she finds herself pregnant after a fling with Joshua Levinson, a Jewish man with dreams of becoming a famous jazz musician, Viv knows that a swift wedding is the only answer. Her only solace is that marrying Joshua will mean escaping her strict mother’s scrutiny. But when Joshua makes a life-changing choice on their wedding day, Viv is forced once again into the arms of her disapproving family.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Rhonda G on 2023-10-05
Written by: Julia Kelly
-
The Stone Diaries
- Written by: Carol Shields, Penelope Lively - introduction
- Narrated by: Deborah Drakeford
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1905, Daisy Goodwill Flett drifts through the chapters of childhood, marriage, widowhood, remarriage, motherhood, and old age, bewildered by her inability to understand her own role in the unsettled decades of the twentieth century. At last, reflecting on her unobserved and unconventional life, Daisy attempts to find a way to tell her story within a novel that is itself about the limitations of autobiography.
Written by: Carol Shields, and others
-
Unsheltered
- A Novel
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliantly executed and compulsively listenable, Unsheltered is the story of two families, in two centuries, who live at the corner of Sixth and Plum, as they navigate the challenges of surviving a world in the throes of major cultural shifts. In this mesmerizing story told in alternating chapters, Willa and Thatcher come to realize that though the future is uncertain, even unnerving, shelter can be found in the bonds of kindred - whether family or friends - and in the strength of the human spirit.
-
-
disappointed
- By Anonymous User on 2019-07-27
Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
-
A Town Called Solace
- Written by: Mary Lawson
- Narrated by: Maggie Huculak, Tajja Isen, Ian Lake
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Town Called Solace, the brilliant and emotionally radiant new novel from Mary Lawson, her first in nearly a decade, opens on a family in crisis. Sixteen-year-old Rose is missing. Angry and rebellious, she had a row with her mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Left behind is seven-year-old Clara, Rose’s adoring little sister. Isolated by her parents’ efforts to protect her from the truth, Clara is bewildered and distraught.
-
-
What a lovely story
- By Beth Toly on 2021-02-24
Written by: Mary Lawson
-
The Birth House
- Written by: Ami McKay
- Narrated by: Geneviève Steele
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of Rares. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing. Dora becomes Miss B.’s apprentice, and together they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labours, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives.
-
-
A must read/listen
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-05-31
Written by: Ami McKay
-
One Last Child
- Tallman's Valley Detectives, Book 1
- Written by: Anni Taylor
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was summer in the mountains when five small children vanished from their nursery school picnic. The heat was stifling that day, the tinkle of an ice-cream van in the air.... Three-and-a-half years later, in the dead of winter, the children are returned to their families...one by one. All except for Ivy - the granddaughter of Homicide Detective Kate Wakeland. The other four children say Ivy is dead.
-
-
Good book
- By Ida Linehan Young on 2022-09-23
Written by: Anni Taylor
-
The Square of Sevens
- Written by: Laura Shepherd-Robinson
- Narrated by: Imogen Wilde
- Length: 20 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cornwall, 1730: A young girl known only as Red travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient Cornish method of the Square of Sevens. Shortly before he dies, her father entrusts Red’s care to a gentleman scholar, along with a document containing the secret of the Square of Sevens technique.
-
-
Multiple surprising twists.
- By A. Prichard on 2024-01-07
Written by: Laura Shepherd-Robinson
-
Triptych
- Written by: Karin Slaughter
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy.
-
-
Slow start, riveting finish
- By Ellen P., Toronto on 2018-08-06
Written by: Karin Slaughter
-
The Books of Jacob
- A Novel
- Written by: Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft - translator
- Narrated by: Allen Lewis Rickman, Gilli Messer
- Length: 35 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the mid-18th century, as new ideas—and a new unrest—begin to sweep the Continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following.
-
-
Too long
- By YNM Toronto on 2022-05-27
Written by: Olga Tokarczuk, and others
-
The Bird's Nest
- Written by: Shirley Jackson, Kevin Wilson - foreword
- Narrated by: Linda Jones, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elizabeth is a demure 23-year-old wiling her life away at a dull museum job, living with her neurotic aunt, and subsisting off her dead mother’s inheritance. When Elizabeth begins to suffer terrible migraines and backaches, her aunt takes her to the doctor, then to a psychiatrist. But slowly, and with Jackson’s characteristic chill, we learn that Elizabeth is not just one girl - but four separate, self-destructive personalities.
Written by: Shirley Jackson, and others
What listeners say about August into Winter
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PDubya
- 2023-12-17
Great storytelling
Really enjoyed this book - it was rather long but it was a good story with great characters. The ending was not what I expected. I will definitely get another book by this author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nicki S
- 2023-06-18
What a story!
Every character is elegantly portrayed, with flaws and ideals (some more heavily leaning in one direction). Enjoyed it immensely.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bryce.d
- 2021-11-03
Amazing Read
Guy Vanderhaegue is one of the best living Canadian novelists. And this is arguably his best
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dorothy Martin
- 2021-11-04
Wonderful story
I very much enjoyed this novel- much as I enjoyed the author’s previous books. Multifaceted characters and a suspenseful tale, set quite realistically in time and place. Also very interesting depictions of WW1 and the Spanish Civil War.
The only criticism I can offer is re: the performance. The singsong style of speaking, for me, diminished the import of the words and made the characters sound almost clownish.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrew
- 2023-10-14
Vanderhaeghe goes just short of full speed
I read other reviews commenting on the narrator's singsong lilt thinking it really can't be that bad. His style persisted even in the most inopportune moments and took away some of the gravitas in certain scenes. It also made it difficult sometimes to tell that a new sentence started.
Regarding the story, I loved the character development, and I found the characters' personalities were an appropriate balance between realism and entertainment.
Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing had a scene that was fast-paced and had me truly invested in pursuing the story. I felt like the climax in August into Winter should have been a false summit, with an even grander encounter later. The plot certainly had room to expand to one more level of excitement. However, it was a wonderful novel to help me through the long commute.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-09-26
Close to home
Beautifully written book, I was born a few hours away from area referenced in “August into Winter” and Vanderhaeghe captured the feel of rural prairie life so well! Characters are well developed and ultimately so flawed. It has been quite a few years since I’ve read “The Englishman’s Boy” and “The Last Crossing” but during that time Guy Vanderhaeghe has developed his craft to the point that I would now consider him to be one of the best writers in Canada!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KathyNS52
- 2021-09-24
great story with depth of character
excellent story without ridiculous embellishments. a real story about real people that kept you listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful