[The Winter People is a] beautifully woven story about North Carolina mountain folk. Ehle has avoided caricature in creating the Wright and Campbell clans—two mountain families who live in warily peaceful deference without hiding the scorn and animosity that has permeated their relationship for years…. The novelist produces splendid dialogue, climactic adventure scenes (especially vivid is an account of a bear hunt), and dramatic tension that is carried to the final page.