Ice Out
She Writes Press
ISBN 978-1-64742-324-7 Print
ISBN 978-1-64742-325-4 Ebook
ISBN 978-1-66967-693-5 Audiobook
A powerful tale of one woman's journey from grief to acceptance and forgiveness when a tragic accident shatters her near-perfect life.
Francesca Bodin has a near-perfect life as an accomplished music teacher and professional flutist living in the country with her husband, Ben, and their four-year-old daughter, Addie. This ends suddenly when a snowmobiling accident traps the three of them in a frozen lake. Ben escapes, leaving her and Addie behind to die.
Francesca believes she sees their dog pull Addie from the lake and drag her into the nearby woods. Desperate to help her daughter, she struggles to emerge from the icy waters and follows them. Once she enters the forest, however, she finds herself trapped in a sinister dream-like world where night never ends, where Addie’s whereabouts remain hidden from her, and where she encounters a group of women who, like Francesca, have been left to die and now seek to unleash their revenge on those who have harmed them. When they have Ben in their sights, Francesca realizes that if she is ever to escape this nightmare and save her daughter, she must first save the husband who abandoned them
Official Trailer
Awards
2023 Hawthorne Award, Short Listed
2023 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite for Visionary Fiction
2022 Best Book Awards Finalist for Fiction: Visionary
2022 PenCraft Book Awards Runner-up Winner for Fiction (General)
2022 NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite for Visionary Fiction
2022 International Book Award Finalist for Fiction: Visionary
2022 Book Excellence Award Winner for Fiction
2022 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist for Fiction
2022 Literary Titan Book Award Gold Winner
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Ice Out was named to the list of Best Indie Book Club Picks for 2022
What people are saying about it
"Speranza brilliantly threads the line between utter heartache and redemption in a thrilling novel that lingers long after its last page is turned."
--Wm. Anthony Connolly, author of Psalms & Stones and The Smallest Universe
Speranza's fine storytelling in Ice Out grabs the reader and simply never lets go.
--Tony D'Souza, author of Whiteman and The Konkans
Ice Out…deftly focuses on redemption and forgiveness…. an engaging tale about thorny family ties.
–-Kirkus Review
Ice Out is an emotional rollercoaster with an intricate psychological plot. Readers who enjoy metaphysical fiction, thriller, or psychological fiction novels will be drawn into this riveting story.
--Literary Titan
A harrowing, mind-bending journey, fans of fast-paced fiction will thoroughly enjoy this book. Highly recommended!
--Book Excellence
Speranza has crafted a haunting tale. The author combines the depth of a novel-length work with the poetic punch of a literary short story as she moves seamlessly between realist and magical realist tropes...The prose mesmerizes in a deliciously long, slow ascent as Francesca struggles with her imagery of past, present, and future to perceive what has happened to her family and why her husband cannot rescue her.
--US Review of Books