The Winter Vault

The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels is a beautifully written literary novel about love, loss, memory, displacement, and the emotional cost of progress. Set in Canada and Egypt, with echoes of England and postwar Poland, the story follows newly married Canadians Avery and Jean as they live on a houseboat on the Nile during the relocation of Abu Simbel for the Aswan Dam project.

Avery is an engineer involved in dismantling and reconstructing a sacred temple, while Jean is drawn to the natural world and everything that grows. Their experiences mirror an earlier upheaval they witnessed along the St. Lawrence River during the building of the Seaway. After tragedy changes their marriage, they return to Toronto and drift into separate lives, where Jean becomes connected to Lucjan, a Polish émigré artist.

Lyrical, haunting, and deeply reflective, The Winter Vault is a strong choice for readers of literary fiction, Canadian literature, historical fiction, and beautifully layered love stories.

Hardcover, Very Good