Review: The Winter Calf
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 15, 2014
The Winter Calf by Michael Nuckols takes place in the small mountain town of Maple Gap.  Iris is known as the town witch and is feared by the kids in the area.  Iris lost her son Elias in a flood and we meet her at the beginning of the book as she casts a spell to try to bring him back.  Life is just not the same without her beloved Elias.  Henry and his sister live with their loving parents, and the family cow Marla produced a new winter calf.  Henry’s dad gave the calf to Henry to raise, but sadly the little fellow did not make it because of a mistake that Henry made.  Jerome’s mother is the local school bus driver.  He has two other siblings and they all suffer at the hands of a drunk and very violent man.  Family life for them is nothing like Henry’s and the two boys do not like each other.  A series of unfortunate events bring Iris, Henry, and Jerome together in what is ultimately a healing process for all of them.Iris grew up in a professional home and her parents expected her to become a teacher and marry a man of some substance.  Things did not work out that way and Iris ended up pregnant and alone.  This was a disgrace to the family so they bought an old cabin in the mountains and moved her there until the end of the pregnancy.  There were no utilities; she had to pump her own water; bathroom facilities were outside; but she did have a phone.  Iris would give the baby up for adoption and against her parent’s wishes, she kept the baby and continued to live a very difficult life in the little cabin.  She loved her son Elias with her entire being and was inconsolable when flood waters swept him away.  She buried an empty casket because his body was never found.  Henry met Iris when his school bus broke down and the driver dispatched him to her place to call for help.  He was afraid and afterwards never wanted to see the old witch ever again.  Little does he know that he will see a lot of her!  Jerome met Iris after he ran away from home to get away from his abusive father.  She became his savior and a special bond developed between the two.  Will Elias ever come back?  How will Iris help Jerome?  When the truth comes out, Iris will never be the same, and prepare to be shocked as unknown relationships become evident.Follow along as events develop and secrets are revealed.  Read this book and you will get a lesson in abandonment, abuse, compassion, and love.  People are so often incorrectly judged, and by the time I finished this book I realized that most humans do have some humanity left.  The story started a little slow but picked up enough that I fell into it all the way.  I believe that the winter calf referred to in the book title is symbolic because I saw a couple of instances in the story where one or more other characters could be winter calves.  I also found that it was amazing how the actions of Iris’ parents to her pregnancy served as the catalyst that made the entire story possible.  The author described the characters and scenes in enough depth that I related to both very well.  I did see a few mistakes that a good editor can fix, but they did not lessen my enjoyment.  I recommend this book and I suggest that you read it with an open heart.