Winter (Marsden novel)

For twelve years since the age of 4 Winter has been haunted. Her past, her memories, her feelings, will not leave her alone. And now, at sixteen, the time has come for her to act. Every journey begins with a single step. If Winter is going to step into the future, she must first step into the past. Winter returns to her family estate of Warriewood, neglected since the death of her parents when she was four years old; she will stop at nothing to uncover the mystery behind their deaths. with evidence

• Winter De Salis - The main character of the story, Winter was orphaned when she was four.
• Phillip De Salis - Winter's father, who was killed in the Sydney-Hobart yacht race.
• Phyllis De Salis - Winter's mother, who was supposedly killed in a shooting accident, but, as Winter eventually discovered, was killed by her four-year-old daughter in a tragic accident involving a loaded gun.
• Rita Harrison - Winter's rich great-aunt.
• Mrs Stone - Rita Harrison's housekeeper.
• Ralph - Hired to take care of the Warriewood estate.
• Sylvia - Hired to take care of the Warriewood estate.
• Matthew Kennedy - A neighbour of Winter's.
• Mr Carruthers - The supervisor of the Warriewood estate.
• Dr Couples - The doctor who saw Phyllis's crime scene.
• Jess McGill - Friend

Marsden describes the inspiration behind Winter in his book Marsden on Marsden: The Story of John Marsden's Bestselling Books. For Winter, he describes two sources of inspiration. The first source of inspiration was an estate that he bought in January 1998, the Tye Estate.[2] When Marsden bought this estate, it was old and in need of renovation.[2] In Winter, Winter's estate is a description of this very house.[2] Many of the activities that Winter performs throughout the novel are activities that Marsden himself carried out in the renovation of the Tye Estate, including pulling up blackberry plants and cleaning the gutters.[2] Some aspects of the storyline are drawn directly from Marsden's own experience. For example, when Marsden acquired the Tye Estate, people told him of the old, beautiful furniture that it used to contain. In Winter, the old, beautiful furniture from Winter's estate has also gone missing.[2] The second source of inspiration for this novel was a short story that Marsden wrote, but never published, about a girl who was trying to uncover the truth about how her mother had died.[2]

Like Marsden's other works So much to Tell You and Letters from the Inside, Winter is in some ways a detective novel.[2] Marsden's love for this genre comes from his passion for Agatha Christie novels.[2] This passion of his was especially strong during his teenage years.[2]

Marsden also discusses his inspiration for the name of the protagonist: "Winter." He has a natural affinity for poetic names, such as River or Willow (or Winter).[2] The name "Winter" came from a woman who came to one of the writing courses that he taught.[2] He started writing Winter just a few months after meeting this woman at his writing course.[2]