The Snow Man by George Sand (1858)

What a splendid thing this book is. Set in Dalecarlia, a region of central Sweden nestled next to the Norwegian border, in around 1770, the action takes place in a frozen landscape. The centre of it is a lake in which there is a rocky island topped with an old castle. The lake is a plane of white, its upper part frozen solid, so the island is very accessible. On the edge of the lake the new replacement castle has been built, much more in the modern style. All in view is swathed in snow. It is the story initially of a strolling puppeteer, up from Italy, the famed Christian Waldo, an orphan who was raised by gentle loving Italian adoptive parents. He is Ronald Colmanishly handsome: stylish, gentlemanly, capable. He takes up illicit accomodation in the Stollborg, the old castle on the island, and starts to prepare for at least two performances for the huge assembly of young aristos in the new castle. The plot is incredibly, satisfyingly intricate. It involves a local lawyer who also ends up at the Stollborg, the garrison of young local army officers, a young countess of the new castle party who falls for Christian, the ancient, evil and disturbed baronial owner of the whole estate, his crafty servants, and so on and so on...It takes place via hidden doors, concealed and mistaken identity and lots of guessing. The history behind it is one of inheritance, whereby in the past the brother of the evil baron has been murdered, his wife ostracised for her religion and exiled, a child born to her spirited away. What marks this novel out is Sand's dedication to the points of view of the characters: there are many, and they all know some things for sure about others, other things they assume or guess (some of which are wrong and actually attributable to others), while many actions which are taken are hidden or misinterpreted. There is a fantastic establishing scene of great length early on, where Christian attends a ball at the new castle as someone else, in order to gauge his surroundings before he announces his arrival. At this stage the darkness of the plot has not been established and he goes in this way as a piece of fun, causing fascination in some circles, puzzlement about who he is in others, as well as getting his foot forward in understanding the potentially sinister reputation of the place. This long scene, set across a suite of bright rooms in the new castle, with cross-hatched intrigue and romance, would make a superb setpiece in a film of this work, given the exotic locale. Needless to say, Christian discovers through diligent work by the lawyer, hints from old retainers and his own suspicions, that he is much more intimately involved with the historic story than he could ever have imagined. He has come home, unwittingly. With violence, despair and nefarious complicated plots the story slowly unwinds, uncoiling colour after colour in this supposedly monotonal domain. All ends well for him, of course, but not without having gone a scintillating journey. Sand proves yet again what a mistress of prismatic plot she is, when writing at length.