The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman

"The color red alone was worth kingdoms." - Alice Hoffman, The Ice Queen

The library book group will meet on Friday, April 4 at 10:30 a.m. to talk about The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman. In it, a librarian obsessed with death deals with her ability to make wishes come true and with being struck by lightning.

Spiegel Online has an interesting article on the maladies of lightning strike survivors (lightning only kills its victims about 10% of the time).

Discussion Questions (feel free to add more of your own in the comments):

Do you believe that people can “die” and then come back, like Lazarus Jones or the Dragon? Or do we need to refine our definition of death?

Who was your favorite character, or if you hated the book, your least favorite?

What did the narrator find out towards the end of the book? How would it have changed her life to have known the truth?

Do you think this book itself is a modern fairy tale? Why or why not?

How does Alice Hoffman equate the butterfly effect with fate? Do you agree?

Do you think the last part of the book fits in with what came before?

Some questions from Marilyn:

1. The last line – “I hope it’s you.” – who is the “YOU”? Her mother, brother, Lazarus?

2. Why mention bats so much? Do you think it means something?

3. How did you feel as you read the book? If you enjoyed it, try to decide why. If you had an emotional reaction to it ­ if it made you angry or sad or full of hope, for instance, can you explain why?

4. Did you like the book or not? Did you enjoy it? Is it possible to find a book interesting without 'enjoying' it? If you didn't enjoy it what sort of person do you think would? Do you think you might have enjoyed it more or less if you'd read it when you were younger? Do you think the book jacket synopsis and jacket illustration do a good job of indicating the type of book it is?