The Ice Queen

I am an Alice Hoffman fan; a big Alice Hoffman fan, but I was not a fan of this novel. Anyone familiar with Alice Hoffman knows how eloquent she can be. Her language is pure poetry; some of her novels are extroadinary and some are not. I do not think this novel is up to her usual standards, even though at times the language reads as pure poetry.

Many of her novels are written in the extremes; by that I mean, if it is a beautiful day, it is the most beautiful day, and the sun is shining more brightly than ever, the sky is so blue it almost hurts the eye. This is the set up of most of her novels before she drops the shoe; basically it is Eden before Eve eats the apple. This ususally works very effectively; it makes the dramatic event much more dramatic because of the inevitable fall from grace.

This novel, however, has the opposite formula. It starts with a traumatic event and moves to a solution; it doesn't work as well. It is told by a woman who has turned to ice inside. It starts out remembering her life as a 10 year old and moves all the way up until she is almost forty. Her childhood is filled with tragedies, and she learns to protect herself through emotional coldness. It is this coldness to the extreme that doesn't seem to work as fluently as her other novels do. She is also silent; very silent. This silence results in hardly any dialogue at all; it is mostly stream of consciousness.

Sometimes this works well, but sometimes it just gets "cold." It is also quite depressing as she is obsessed with death, I mean obsessed. But, Hoffman's language is truly beautiful, and she really knows how to write an opening sentence, "Be careful what you wish for. I know that for a fact. Wishes are brutal, unforgiving things. They burn your tongue the moment they're spoken and you can never take them back. They bruise and bake and come back to haunt you" (3).

Hoffman also weaves the Grimm fairy tales throughout this novel. For me, this started out fine, but after awhile it just didn't connect. The best part of this novel starts 3/4 way through. (probably only true Hoffman fans would have stuck it out to that point). The last quarter of this novel is beautifully written with Hoffman's signature eloquence. Even if part of the ending seems trite or formulaic.

Things that worked for me in this novel:

1) We never learn the narrator's name. She is as cold to us as she is to everyone else.

2) Some of Hoffman's language, and the twist at the end.

3) Her relationship with her brother, Ned, and his life.

4) Her silence is so effective; we hardly every hear her voice. This is what she wants to be, silent, and the writing effectively creates this theme of silence.

Things that didn't work for me in this novel:

1) I was left as cold as the Ice Queen.

2) She got really depressing, almost manic-depressive. Stream of consciousness works when the stream varies in content, but in this novel it was one theme, over and over and over again.

3) The Grimm fairy tale obsession became more of a hindrance to the reading experience than an obsession.

All in all, I would recommend this novel to all Alice Hoffman fans. For all of you who have never read Alice Hoffman before, I would bypass the Ice Queen and pick up Practical Magic, Seventh Heaven or At Risk.

I usually end my reviews by saying Happy Reading! This novel was depressing though, so I will just end by saying "be happy reading."