Short Synopsis
From the author of the acclaimed Fugitive Pieces, her first work of fiction in more than a decade: a mesmerizing love story that juxtaposes historical events with the most intimate moments of individual lives.

Full Synopsis
In 1964, a newly married Canadian couple settle into a houseboat on the Nile just below Abu Simbel. Avery is one of the engineers responsible for the dismantling and reconstruction of the temple, a "machine-worshipper" who is nonetheless sensitive to their destructive power. Jean is a botanist by vocation, passionately interested in everything that grows. They met on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, witnessing the construction of the Seaway as it swallowed towns, homes, and lives. Now, at the edge of another world about to be inundated, they create their own world, exchanging "the innocent memories we don't know we hold until given the gift of the eagerness of another."

But when tragedy strikes, they return to separate lives in Toronto: Avery to school to study architecture; and Jean into the orbit of Lucjan, a Polish émigré artist whose haunting tales of occupied Warsaw pull her further from Avery but offer her the chance to assume her most essential life.

Stunning in its explorations of both the physical and emotional worlds of its characters, intensely moving and lyrical, The Winter Vault is a radiant work of fiction.

"Exquisite.... A tender love story set against an intriguing bit of history is handled with uncommon skill." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Michaels has written a moody story of loss and renewal that often reads like prose poetry. White's narration honors the author's elegiac, romantic voice." ---AudioFile

"With great compassion, Michaels captures the inevitability of shifting human fortunes." ---San Francisco Chronicle

"A deeply felt novel." ---Kirkus

Publishers Weekly Review

New York Times Bestseller

New York Times Bestseller