Children of Winter is a historical time-slip novel set in the Derbyshire village of Eyam. Three siblings have to survive alone in a barn during the Great Plague of 1666. They long to know what is happening down in their village.

Previously published by Catnip, November 2019 and originally published by Methuen, 1985 (HarperCollins paperback) a new edition of the much loved classic was published by UCLan on 2 November 2023. It was also available as a BBC Jackanory cassette, read by Sylvestra le Touzel, a video: Channel 4 schools Bookbox dramatisation and a BBC4 schools abridged reading.

Catherine and her family set out for her grandmother’s house deep in the Derbyshire hills. Sheltering from a storm in an old cruck barn with her younger sister and brother, it becomes strangely familiar to her, and she is drawn back to a time when three children sheltered all winter away from a terrible plague that was devastating their village. Written by a master storyteller, Children of Winter recreates the time when the tiny village of Eyam in Derbyshire cut itself off from the rest of England in 1666.

Blurb for Children of Winter by Berlie Doherty

Cover Art by Tamsin Rosewell.

Berlie Doherty is the author of the best-selling novel, Street Child, and over 60 more books for children, teenagers and adults, and has written many plays for radio, theatre and television.

She has been translated into over twenty languages and has won many awards, including the Carnegie medal for both Granny Was a Buffer Girl and Dear Nobody, and the Writers’ Guild Award for both Daughter of the Sea and the theatre version of Dear Nobody. 

To find out more about Berlie Doherty and her books take a look at her website: https://berliedoherty.com