Set in remote areas of Florida and Scotland with different members of a family running an ice house, my thoughts immediately turned to the well-known novel (and movie) The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux. So the bar was set high!
If I worked in the publishing industry then maybe I could put my finger on why I feel so ambivalent about The Ice House. Laura Lee Smith's descriptions of locations are picturesque, there are plenty of tensions and even a mystery, the main characters go through life changes and there are many unexpected events.
This is beautiful writing but I found it difficult to stay involved. The plot is wide-ranging and satisfactorily worked out but I never really warmed to most of the characters. I found it a slow read, similar to Donna Tartt's work.
If I worked in the publishing industry then maybe I could put my finger on why I feel so ambivalent about The Ice House. Laura Lee Smith's descriptions of locations are picturesque, there are plenty of tensions and even a mystery, the main characters go through life changes and there are many unexpected events.
This is beautiful writing but I found it difficult to stay involved. The plot is wide-ranging and satisfactorily worked out but I never really warmed to most of the characters. I found it a slow read, similar to Donna Tartt's work.