The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
Release date: 2003 / 5 CDs
Synopsis (from back cover): “Be careful what you wish for. A woman who was touched by tragedy as a child now lives a quiet life, keeping other people at a cool distance. She even believes she wants it that way. Then one day she utters an idle wish and, while standing in her house, is struck by lightning. But instead of ending her life, this cataclysmic event sparks a strange and powerful new beginning.”
Review: Last Christmas, my husband bought me two books on tape. I think he chose them randomly (we read different types of fiction usually), and I discarded one almost immediately. It was by the author of White Oleander (which I loved), but after the first 100 f**ks, a intimately-described corpse, and Jennifer Jason Leigh’s perfectly matched voice to the dismal lives of the characters, I decided the “50 page rule” would be “30 minute rule” for books on tape and decided to pass.
So, before I popped the second gift into the CD player, I thought for a moment back to other titles by Hoffman I had read. Adjectives such as “dark,” “disturbing,” “unpredictable,” and “magical” came to mind. I had not read her work for quite a few years, but remembered feeling ambivalent. I know I enjoyed Here On Earth and Charming Billy when I read them, but not enough to seek out other titles.
Well, this one fit all of the above criteria — and again I was left ambivalent. On one level, The Ice Queen is a bit of a twisted fairy tale (although based in reality). The “ice queen” is a woman who blames herself for the death of her mother which occurred at a very young age. She and her brother essentially raised themselves, but are not particularly close as adults — not estranged, but they simply didn’t have much in common and lived states apart.
Initially I did not care for the protagonist and her grim obsession with ways to die. I understood how powerfully her mother’s death had affected her, but really wanted to shake her a bit and say “Move On!” She was thirty, afterall, and life was truly passing her by.
Fortunately, this feeling did not last long. Once the protagonist is hit by a bolt of lightning, her entire life changes… as does the novel (for the better). One of the most “Hoffmaneque” and quirkiest of the effects is when she can no longer see the color red — and realizes for the first time how much she had taken it (and much of life and happiness) for granted. We meet other lightning-strike victims, each affected in strange and sometimes miraculous ways, and watch the siblings become friends.
Overall, I do recommend this strange, otherworldly novel. Nancy Travis’s reading is perfect — her voice matches Hoffman’s writing and the identity of the protagonist to a tee. For those of you who also enjoy listening to books on tape, you know just how crucial the “voice” is!
Interested? Simply drop me a comment and I’ll choose a winner soon! 
I’d like to enter to win..she is my favorite author!
Can you believe I’ve never listened to a book on tape?! Put me in the running:)
Sounds like an interesting premis, and if it’s clean I can use it for my book club! I’d love to win a copy.
Sounds quirky and fun! Would love to read OR listen to this book!
Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors–would love to hear in my car on my next roadtrip.
This one sounds very interesting.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
I would love to read this book. Thanks again.
I just started to listen to audiobooks & love it. Please enter me, thanks/
ruthiekb72ATyahooDOTcom
I’d love to “read” this audio book–count me in!
Enter me, thanks.
I’d love to be able to give away a copy to my book club. I’ve did that one time with books I got at a workshop. They were thrilled. It added a little “je ne sais quoi” to the meeting!
I have not had the opportunity read anything by this author yet. This was would be a start by listening.
Thanks for the chance
Please count me in.