On frosty nights, as he sits by a flickering fire, Michael Harding withdraws into the stillness of winter and begins to reckon with age and death.

As stories emerge from the shadows, we meet a young boy whose arrival brings hope, but whose journey will know winter's path. November is a rainstorm, December a bleak twilight, but as January dawns and the ice
thaws, the fragile light of love penetrates the dark, bringing beauty to the earth and making new beginnings possible.

In writing of shadowed beauty, Midwinter is a poignant exploration of a season of loss, and the glimpses of hope that can follow even the longest nights.

Snow falls within.
Blanketing the heart in peace.
Winter's dream takes hold.

This book is dedicated to everyone at Pieta House, a suicide prevention charity. This is a work of non-fiction apart from the character of Martin who is fictional but whose story reflects the heartache and loss so many families endure every year.

Michael Harding has bestowed on us a beguiling meditation on life and death in these quiet and profound reflections ... remarkable ... a comforting book, beautifully written and with gorgeous illustrations * Irish Times *
Unbearably honest. Harding writes with lyrical beauty * Irish Indpendent *

Michael Harding is an author and playwright. A recipient of the Stewart Parker Award for theatre, a Hennessy Award for Short Stories and a Bank of Ireland/RTÉ award for Excellence in the Arts in 1990, he has written numerous plays for the Abbey Theatre and was writer in association with the National Theatre in 1993.

His novels include Bird in the Snow, The Trouble with Sarah Gullion and Priest. He is also the author of several bestselling memoirs including Staring at Lakes (winner of the Bord Gáis Energy Book of the Year award), Hanging with the Elephant, Talking to Strangers, On Tuesdays I'm a Buddhist, Chest Pain and What is Beautiful in the Sky.

He is a member of Aosdána, a columnist for over fifteen years with The Irish Times and his podcasts are available on the Patreon platform.