A Rage in Winter

In a small town on the shore of Lake Michigan, two young women are enrolled at the local college-a school comfortable only with the traditions of the past. One of the students adheres to the institution's Calvinist foundational roots; the other is Catholic, struggling to maintain her identity in an insular community leery of outside influences. But a man they both desire soon comes between the two friends, and one of the women hatches a horrific plot against her rival-a plot to take place against the backdrop of a frigid Michigan winter. Thus unfolds A Rage in Winter, a novel exploring the nature of jealousy and hatred, the origins of evil, and the consequences of violence in an environment of religious intolerance and a fear of the wider world. The novel chronicles the journey of a young woman, outspoken in her beliefs, who finds love where she doesn't expect it, experiencing the wonder of a new, uninhibited passion, while, simultaneously, an old friendship dies-replaced by vengeance. As the cold snows of winter approach, the two women face each other, an unspeakable crime is committed, and a community is left to ponder the aftermath of an event no one thought possible in a place so sheltered from the outside world. Todd Bulgarelli paints a vivid picture of a small town rocked by a big-city crime in A Rage in Winter, a novel that is both engaging and thoughtful.