This was a beautiful novel, exploding with sensuality and with youthful despair and yet at the same time very quiet. You could almost hear its heart beating. The descriptions of the 'ice palace' itself were so vivid and evocative you were there, standing in the cold, in the cathedral of ice. But despite the ice, the darkness is always in evidence, where there is light there is shadow. ( )

A miniature psychological bildungsroman. It is very sparse and beautiful, taking place in a frozen landscape...somewhere that could be anywhere. The Scandanavian names of the two main characters are the only things which associate the book with a certain place (well, that and the fact that it was translated from Norweigan). In the middle of the book, cars and telephones are brought up briefly. Otherwise it would feel timeless as well.

It's told from the point of view of an 11 year old girl, detailing the way she deals with a tragedy.