The Ice Queen

THE ICE QUEEN by talented writer, Alice Hoffman is a book well worth reading. Colorful, insightful, thought-provoking and entertaining. Bottom line...An enjoyable story that held my complete attention throughout the whole book. Loved the characters and the plot. I read this great story a week ago and I am still thinking about it. Yes, this story is that interesting! (Highly Recommended!)

I've been an Alice Hoffman fan since TURTLE MOON. While some of her later efforts have left me a bit flat, THE ICE QUEEN grabbed me and held on until the very last word on the very last page. An almost invisible librarian from New Jersey lives an almost invisible life, carefully removing herself from any emotional attachments after the death of her mother when she was a young girl. Her older brother, Ned, is her portal to the outside world. When their grandmother dies, Ned moves her to Florida, where's he's a married professor. On a particulary hot day, the librarian (whose name is never given) survives a direct hit by lightning. She reluctantly agrees to become part of a study with other lightning strike survivors. She hears of a man named Lazarus Jones . . . nicknamed so because he was apparently dead for 40 minutes after a lightning strike, woke up, and simply walked out the hospital. Our ice queen is compelled to find Lazarus Jones and hear his side of the story. Jones, it seems, is still burning (literally) from the strike, while our heroine's world has gone cold and gray (literally). One of the wonderful things about reading anything Hoffman writes is that you must suspend your traditional beliefs and abandon universal truths to completely "get" her stories. I read the book in one sitting. Mystical. Intriguing. Thought-provoking. Ultimately satisfying. Yep. That's Hoffman at her best. Enjoy!!

Magic and mysticism, romance and redemption are flawlessly blended in Alice Hoffman's 18th novel. As many know, Ms. Hoffman is a mellifluous writer, exploring through fiction the myriad relationships between human beings and a sometimes intercessory fate. Such prose merits a smooth, carefully enunciated almost musical reading, and just such a delivery is found with stage and television actress Nancy Travis. She effortlessly carries readers along as the unnamed protagonist feels the cold within her begin to thaw and finally warm. Opening with the lines, "Be careful what you wish for......," we meet a librarian who keeps to herself. She is guarded, alone, and convinces herself that is the way she wishes to be. Her mother died when she was a child, and she feels responsible for that death. How better to atone than by sacrificing herself, refusing to like, love or really live? One day as she's standing in her house she is struck by lightning, literally. This affects her in several bizarre ways and she searches out another lightning survivor, one Lazarus Jones, so known because he appeared to be dead for about 40 minutes then simply rose and walked off. She feels he has much to teach her. He is her polar opposite; she was all ice, he is all fire. What could have happened to them that caused such dramatic manifestations? More importantly, in the present, what could become of their coupling? Leave it to Alice Hoffman to once again intrigue and entertain. - Gail Cooke

Clever and beautiful Alice Hoffman's The Ice Queen is an exploration into the human psyche. Having moments of sheer brilliance the characters of this work come to life in a masterful way. After the loss of her mother when she was a child, a loss she blames herself for as one could think only a child could, the protagonist becomes rigid and emotionally devoid. Her reaction is understandably modern response as many today insulate themselves into not feeling anything rather than feeling both pleasure and pain. It is also the response found often in traumatized children. However some of the themes of this book actually harken back to the works of the ancient Greeks. Her brother becomes a meteorologist in contrast to "the ice queen" and here we have two approaches to our lives: the logical and the mystical. However her wishes again become reality as an adult when she is struck by lightening. So is the ice queen omnipotent or hounded by the Furies? First believing she caused a death, then as an adult surviving death she find herself seeking out a man nicknamed "Lazerus" who was also struck by lightening. Ah, the Gods! Through it all the ice queen journeys on a path of enlightenment. This is my first exposure to Alice Hoffman's work and I find it both enchanting and intellectually satisfying. A Jungian fairy tale that I recommend.

Alice Hoffman has always been a master of character development, and she continues to weave her magic in this electrifying novel. The main character, a self-punishing librarian, takes the reader on a fascinating journey of forgiveness and self-realization. Along the way she learns that things are not always as they seem, and "truths" on which a life is based, may not be true at all. This beautifully written story will be enjoyed by all Hoffman fans. I highly recommend it.