Join AD Miller to talk about SNOWDROPS, our January Book of the Month, on Tuesday Jan 31, 9-10pm

[TillyBookClub]

Shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, January's Book of the Month is a superbly chilling novel that's perfect for frozen winter days.

SNOWDROPS is set in the tawdry, corrupt underbelly of Moscow, where murder victims lie hidden in the snow until the spring thaw brings them to the surface. Nick, a high flying British lawyer, has begun a new life in the city, negotiating with oil barons, exploring the maze of streets crammed with expense-account brothels, power plants, glitzy restaurants and gridlocked traffic. His guide is the enigmatic Masha, who inexorably reels him into a morally ambiguous and self-deluded love affair.

Cool, complex and menacing, this is, as the Spectator put it 'a heady noseful of Moscow, an intoxicating perfume that will whirl you off your feet and set your moral compass spinning'.

You can find out more at our book of the month page.

Atlantic are giving 50 free copies to Mumsnetters - to claim yours, send your name and address to [email protected], putting Mumsnet/Snowdrops in the Subject Bar.

And if you're not lucky enough to bag one of those, don't forget you can get your paperback or version here

We're delighted that A.D Miller will be joining us for the webchat on Tuesday 31 January, 9-10pm. Look forward to seeing you there.

Okay, out of the kindness of my heart and the meanness of my soul I'll have the lot as no one else wants them. I'll cover em in glitter and Christmas them up a bit. Perhaps a snowman instead of a corpse?

I've emailed. I'm interested now after all you've said, Hully!

Ta Dah!

i have emailed but get an out of office until 3rd January reply - poor woman will likely come back to zillions of emails...

Thanks for alerting us to this yummy. I'll contact Atlantic right away to check this out.

Yep - I also got the 'out of office' reply so I'm afraid the poor lady is going to find a very full inbox on her return!

I didn't get one, and there's nothing in my junk mail. Goodness knows to whom I sent the email then!

Don't worry about the out of office reply, I've been assured by Atlantic that anyone who mails in will still receive the books. There's still a good few copies left so if you haven't already, do email [email protected], putting Mumsnet/Snowdrops in the Subject Bar and ignore the outofoffice response.

For once I have actually read this book.

Weirdly all the way through it put me in mind of The Comfort of Strangers (Ian McEwan) but it has been years since I read it and can't for the life of me work out why!!!

The books have now all gone. Enjoy reading over Christmas and don't forget to join us on 31st Jan for the discussion with author AD Miller.

If I read it over Christmas I would have forgotten it by 31 Jan - I have a copy which I downloaded when it was a Kindle bargain a few months ago.

Had an e mail from Sarah from Atlantic to say book is in the post. But like elkiedee if I read it before the middle of January I will have forgotten it by the 31st!!

Is there anyone here who has not been able to finish it...?

Missed your dance hully. Damn!

..complete the motion if you stumble..

this life is more than just a read thru

Received my free copy today, thank you!

Got my copy too, thank you. plenty of time to read before discussion.

Thank you, my copy has arrived.

Got mine and started to make a dent, very easy to read and getting into it thanks

Very good book, I've just finished it and really did enjoy the portrait of Russia. But I did find myself getting extremely angry and frustrated with Nick's naivety. It just was so obvious what they were doing but I guess that's why the book is written as a flashback, hindsight is a bitch and so was Masha.

Ive read it. Its awful, I was waiting for the grande finale but nothing happened !!! I finished it but wouldnt recommend it unfortunately. Ive just read Help (cant remember the author) and loved it. Any more suggestions ?

May I join in- new to MN. Got this as a Christmas present based on the reviews .....but hully you have quite put me off.
I will go speed read and report back.....

Right- well first off I suppose it was easy to speed read, so perfect for Christmas reading.
I felt he did an excellent job of conveying decay and the sordidness of Moscow at the time. In fact, I felt rather grubby myself while reading which, if it was his aim, was excellently done.
The denouement was well signposted, rather disappointingly I felt, and as such, I became very impatient with Nick. He was not a well drawn character in terms of his background, and really in all ways came across as rather insipid.
Several characters I wanted to get to know better- the neighbour and his missing friends, Tatiana the defraudee.
Overall, given the tenor of the reviews I had read, this was a disappointing read. It was, as others have said, grimy snow, sex, fraud, oops.
However, if I had come to this as a pass the time read, I would be quite pleased that it did exactly that.

Didn't think I would enjoy this but I am so far, particularly the descriptions of Russian life. Am finding Nick rather irritating though as he is so wilfully naive. Although he is bored with his life so maybe is just wanting something - anything - to happen. Agree with the comparison to Comfort of Strangers (so far anyway).

I managed to get a free copy too. thank you for that.

I agree with all the other posters, this book was nothing special and lived up to the usual stereotypes.

What also annoyed me was the translation of odd words from russian into english and then putting them into brackets.

Poor effort I am afraid...