The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman

Fiction/Literature

As a young girl, on her mother's birthday, the young narrator asks her mom to stay home with her and her brother. They want to celebrate her birthday with her. Angry that her mom won't stay, she wishes death on her and death is what her mom gets. The girl realizes that she holds a power in wishes and believes herself responsible for her mom's death. She cannot forgive herself and turns to ice on the inside, incapable of any kind of relationship, including with her brother.

As a grown woman, her life is monotonous. She once again makes a wish. This time, that lightning will strike her. It does, but does not kill her. Instead it leaves her with ringing in her head and the inability to see red. In a support group for other lighting strike survivors, she hears about Lazarus. He died for 40 minutes before coming back to life. The narrator needs to understand what it's like being dead.

Before writing this review, I spent a good 10 minutes trying to remember what the name of the main character was. Looking at other reviews, it seems that we never learned it in the book, which I find hard to believe that I never really pieced this together while I was reading it.

This book is full of depressing subject matter. All the characters are Debbie Downers, but I still had hope that the narrator would find what she was looking for and be able to turn her life around. Thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel but it's quite a journey for a few of the characters to get there.

First Line: "Be careful what you wish for."

Rating:
(3/5)

Seventh Heaven

Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman
Fiction/Literature

In the late 1950s in suburban America, women stayed at home and tended their children and husbands. Brand new houses were built all the same in a cookie-cutter fashion. When Nora Silk moves into one of these neighbourhoods and she has no visible husband and dresses provocatively, she is looked upon with suspicion and ignored. But what happens is the street is turned upside down.

Other families on the street include: the McCarthys, boys, Ace and Jackie, and their patient father dubbed "the saint" by his sons; the Hennessys,Ellen, her cop husband Joe and son Stevie who makes Nora's son Billie's life a living hell; the Shapiros, Danny who could get into any college he wants due to his good grades and financial ability; and Rickie is seems unable to make wise choices about boyfriends and school; Donna Durgin, who walks out on her young children and husband because her life feels too empty.

The description of the time period was 'spot on'. I had a bit of trouble with all the myriad of characters and felt the book was mediocre. The story meandered and though quite good in parts would then lost its path.

First Line: "Late in August, three crows took up residence in the chimney of the corner house on Hemlock Street."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

The Probably Future by Alice Hoffman

The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
Fiction

The females of the Sparrow family are all born in March and on their thirteenth birthday, wake up with an unusual ability. Elinor, the eldest of the family has the ability to tell when anyone is lying. Her daughter Jenny has the ability to see other's dreams and Jenny's daughter Stella has the ability to see how people are going to die.

Despite the Sparrow women being unified by these abilities, their family is dysfunctional. Jenny married good-for-nothing Will Avery, whom Elinor immediately took a dislike to because she could tell that he was lying constantly. Their relationship was already strained because Elinor was not there for Jenny the way she expected her to be. This just makes the relationship even worse. When Jenny and Will have a child, Jenny tries to keep Stella away from Elinor although to two secretly communicate. Circumstances lead the two back to the small town of Unity and Jenny's childhood home of the Cake House. Each learns more about their family and about themselves as they try to live together.

This book pulls you in right away with the unique premise that these women wake up with a gift on their thirteenth birthday. While I liked most of the characters and understood where they were coming from, I found Stella to be unnecessarily rude and took a disliking to her right away; one that I couldn't get over for the rest of the book. Really, this is a book about finding yourself and determining how one fits into their family. Despite my dislike for one of the main characters, I still found the book enjoyable.

First Line: "Anyone born and bred in Massachusetts learns early on to recognize the end of winter."

Rating:
(4/5)

The Probable Future

The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
Literature/Fiction

Upon Stella Sparrow's thirteenth birthday she develops a skill to see how other people will die. Each of the woman born in the Sparrow clan has a different ability. Her mother (Jenny) sees other people's dreams and her grandmother (Elinor) can see when people lie. When Stella tries to prevent a murder, her father is accused of homicide.

Jenny must try to protect her daughter from all the media and turmoil of the trial and decides to send her to her hometown of Unity and the ancestral home, Cake House. The problem is Jenny has been estranged from her mother for years and they must now join forces to protect Stella. Stella loves it in Unity and is attracted to two boys, one good and one bad.

This is a wonderful story about the relationships of the females in a family, the conflict of mother-daughter and the pangs of growing up and growing wiser. It is also about choosing the love of your life and not the lust of your life. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the magic it created.

First Line: "Anyone born and bred in Massachusetts learns early on to recognize the end of winter."

Rating:
(4.5/5)