Book cover of If the Ice Had Held

Book description

Melanie Henderson's life is a lie. The scandal of her birth and the identity of her true parents is kept from her family's small, conservative Colorado town. Not even she knows the truth: that her birth mother was just 14 and unmarried to her father, a local boy who drowned…

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Why read it?

1 author picked If the Ice Had Held as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love the complex, nuanced way in which this novel explores the long-range consequences of a single tragedy: in the case of this book, the death of a young man who was on the edge of becoming a father. As we enter the perspectives of his sister, the mother of his child, and (in later years) his child, we learn how lives can be rebuilt in the aftermath of a loss, a time when survivors can feel hopelessly broken. We also learn how new—and sometimes unexpectedbonds can be formed. In other words, we see that tragedies can leave…

From Beth's list on confronting trauma or loss.

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