Alexis M. Smith

This novella is about a young woman, Isabel, and one day in her life. During this day at work, she reminisces about her childhood and thinks about her attractive coworker, who is a soldier recently returned from Iraq. She buys a dress for a party and goes to a party at the end of the day.

I think I liked it. Except for the party scene - that I found boring. But then the last line was impactful and wrapped things up nicely.

I think I just don't do well with this length book. Too long to be a short story, too short to be a novel. I guess there's something satisfying in finishing a book in one day.… (más)

Officially considered a novel for some reason (too short for that in my book so I will call it a novella instead), the story takes place in a single day - or the main story does anyway.

Isabel lives in Portland, Oregon as a librarian and is responsible for repairing damaged books. She spent her childhood in Alaska, lived through her parents' divorce and ended up with a taste for old things. The story follows her through a day in her life - a special day where a lot of things happen - from a love interest finally responding (just to have to leave), through finding the perfect dress for a party to the party itself. But somewhere in there, in between the mundane actions of everyday life, there are stories - Isabel's and other people's. In a novella that does not contain a lot of story on its own, we get a lot of people telling their stories - most of them sad but all of them human. And in between the stories people tell are also the stories Isabel makes up - based on a postcard, based on an old dress.

I wish the author had made this novella longer - I want to know what happens after this day. As it is, it is a slice in the life of Isabel - we get to know her past and her dreams but we don't know what happens after that. The novel ends with a yearning for a place she had never been - which reads almost like a replacement to a love that may or may not be. But then this is how life works - you do not know what happens next.

The writing is nice enough and in some places shines. The glaciers of the title tie to Isabel's memories and there is probably a deeper connection somewhere in there between the disappearing glaciers and her love for things from the past but it is almost invisible in the text - there if you look for it but too weak to actually manage to make a point. It was a nice enough novella but did not make me want to read more by the author. And I am really not fond of the modern trend for contemporary novels to leave treads dangling at their ends - while some of it may be a powerful way to end a novel, it usually ends up feeling like a cheat and if the author really had no clue how to connect them all properly.… (más)