When young James Dixon, a local jack-of-all-trades recently returned from the Battle of Waterloo, meets Dorothy Wordsworth, he's never met another woman like her. In her early thirties, Dorothy has lived an unconventional life. As her famous brother William's confidante and creative collaborator—considered by some in their circle to be the secret to his success as a poet--she has carved a seemingly idyllic life for herself, alongside William and his wife, in England's Lake District.
Dixon is approached by William to do some handiwork around the estate, but he quickly understands that his real responsibility is to keep an eye on Dorothy, who is growing frail and melancholic. The pair form a strong bond, and soon Dixon is witness to the everyday life of this extraordinary family and their unusual circle (which includes Samuel Coleridge, Thomas de Quincy, William Blake, and Charles and Mary Lamb).
Through the fictional voice of James Dixon we are witness to inside the Wordsworth family with its scintillating emotional and artistic struggles, hidden traumas, private betrayals, and triumphs. But Winter also weaves a darker, complex "undersong" through the novel, gradually bringing into the light Dorothy's rich and hidden life, and revealing the surprising meaning and effect of her tragically unacknowledged brilliance.
Undersong is a reimagining the lost years of misunderstood Romantic Era genius Dorothy "Rotha" Wordsworth. Winter chooses to tell Rotha's story through a servant, but will leave her reader feeling disconnected.
KATHLEEN WINTER's novel Annabel was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the Orange Prize, and numerous other awards. It was also a Globe and Mail "Best Book," a New York Times "Notable" book, a Quill & Quire "Book of the Year" and #1 bestseller in Canada. It has been published and translated worldwide. Her Arctic memoir Boundless (2014) was shortlisted for Canada's Weston and Taylor non-fiction prizes, and her last novel Lost in September (2017) was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award.
Winter was born in the UK, Winter now lives in Montreal after many years in Newfoundland.
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