The Heart of Winter

Evison (Legends of the North Cascades) traces the history of a marriage in this tender outing. In 2023, Abe and Ruth Winters’s three children gather at the family farmhouse on Bainbridge Island, Wash., for Abe’s 90th birthday. Following the celebration, Ruth, who is three years younger than Abe, complains of a toothache—and when she subsequently receives a diagnosis of oral cancer requiring extensive surgery and a lengthy recovery, the couple’s customary roles are reversed. Abe clumsily tries (and often fails) to care for Ruth, as the couple attempts to hold onto their independence despite their children’s insistence that they sell their home. The present-day action is interspersed with glimpses into the 70-year history of their relationship, from their meeting at the University of Washington, where Ruth was a budding bohemian with literary aspirations and Abe, a Republican, was a business student, through the early years of marriage and parenthood, during which Ruth let go of her youthful ideals while Abe focused on providing for the family financially if not always emotionally. Ruth draws the most sympathy, as her ambitions evaporate over the course of her life, and in Evison’s skilled hands, Abe’s late in life attempt to be a more supportive husband feels genuine. This is a poignant testament to the sustaining potential of marriage. (Jan.)