A Week in Winter

Chicky is the novel’s protagonist. Even though A Week in Winter is an episodic novel, Chicky serves as the underlying backbone of the overall structure and is the only character to appear in every single story. Her perspective also bookends the novel, with the first chapter and the closing few paragraphs being told from her point of view. The opening story explores her entire life, beginning with her childhood and the transition from her birth name, Geraldine, to the name she would become known by all her life, Chicky. This transition mirrors the shifting of the self that Chicky undergoes as she leaves her true life behind and enters one of complete fabrication. Chicky is described as “a serious little girl” (1) who loves exploring the natural world around her. However, as is the case for many young women (particularly those in more rural places), Chicky’s priorities shift when she meets a young man with whom she falls irrationally in love. This leads her to adopt a completely different persona, first to fit into Walter’s life and then later to create an