Of all weathers snow is the one that has always affected Marcus Sedgwick the most While many people's idea of the perfect holiday involves sun sea an sand he instead makes trips to cold snowy parts of the world Russia Scandinavia or the Arctic Circle A few years ago he bought a mountain home an old chalet d'alpage high in the Haute Savoie & for the first time he began to understand what it is to live in an environment where extreme snowfall is frequent Like the six sides of a snowflake the book has six chapters each exploring the art literature & science of snow as well as his own experiences & memories asking whether it really did snow more during his boyhood in Kent & whether changing climate patterns might meanthat for some areas of the world snow may become a thing of the past He also wonders why snow is so powerful for our imagination so transformative & as fundamental as our response to darkness to sunlight