Chilly Scenes of Winter

First edition

Chilly Scenes of Winter is Ann Beattie's first novel, published by Doubleday in 1976.^[1][2][3] The marketing copy from the paperback edition declared, "This is the story of a love-smitten Charles; his friend Sam, the Phi Beta Kappa and former coat salesman; and Charles' mother, who spends a lot of time in the bathtub feeling depressed."

Plot[]

As the novel begins in the time between Christmas and New Year's, Charles, several days short of his 27th birthday, is dealing with his mentally ill mother's recent hospitalization. His 19-year-old sister is home from college for the holidays. Neither is fond of their step-father Pete, a friend of their late father, who died of a heart attack at the age of 39. His mother has been hospitalized in a mental institution in the past.

Charles is obsessively in love with Laura, a married woman who once worked as a librarian for his employer. After she left her husband, they lived together briefly, but she returned home. He still yearns for a reconciliation with Laura. He must plow through his dull daily life while dealing with his feelings for her and coping with his family and his friend Sam.

Film adaptation[]

The novel was adapted into a film, called Head Over Heels in its original 1979 release. It was unsuccessful at the box office. It was re-released with a new ending as Chilly Scenes of Winter in 1982, and turned a profit.^[4] Beattie herself had a cameo in the movie. Whereas the first version was faithful to the novel in having an upbeat ending, the second version had a downbeat ending.

References[]

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