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''The Winter Guest'' is a 1995 play by Sharman [=MacDonald=] (mother of Creator/KeiraKnightley) that deals with four different relationships over the course of one freezing cold day in a village on the east coast of Scotland. Frances, a photographer, is hiding away from the world after the death of her husband and is being pestered by her mother, Elspeth. Her son, Alex, skips school and spends the day trying to chat up Nita, who he's just met. Also [[UsefulNotes/ScottishEnglish dogging it]] are Sam and Tom, who hang out on the deserted beach for the day. They pass by Chloe and Lily, two elderly women who spend their days attending strangers' funerals.

In 1997, it was made into a film starring Creator/EmmaThompson as Frances and her [[RealLifeRelative mother]] Phyllida Law as Elspeth.

!!Provides examples of:
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Although no one else is around to hear it besides Frances, Elspeth does recount a particularly embarrassing story of Frances participating in a junior beauty pageant while on holiday in Prestwick.
* CuteKitten: Sam and Tom find some abandoned ones and adopt them, becoming KindHeartedCatLover s.
* DangerThinIce: The boys discuss walking out on the frozen sea, wondering whether it'll hold them, in kind of a metaphor for braving life's uncertainties (does [[GrowingUpSucks growing up suck]] or doesn't it?). At the end, they do take the walk, with Tom talking gently to his kitten, whom he's named Fan, zipped securely in his jacket, promising they'll go back and have tea by the fire together.
* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: It's never explicitly stated how Frances' husband died, although it's implied by Alex to have been cancer.
* EducationMama: Sam's mum, who forced him to go to school when he had pneumonia.
* ImportantHaircut: Elspeth doesn't approve of Frances' new {{Bifauxnen}} hair-do.
* SceneryPorn: There are some gorgeous shots of the frozen sea in the film.
* SnowMeansDeath: Played with - the frozen ocean is a [[RuleOfSymbolism symbol]] of Frances' emotional state following her husband's death.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Chloe and Lily.
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