If the Ice Had Held, Wendy J. Fox
If the Ice Had Held, Wendy J. Fox
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If the Ice Had Held

Author: Wendy J. Fox

Narrator: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

Unabridged: 7 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/15/2019

Categories: Fiction, Family Life


Synopsis

Melanie Henderson's life is a lie. The scandal of her birth and the identity of her true parents is kept from her family's small, conservative Colorado town. Not even she knows the truth: that her birth mother was just fourteen and unmarried to her father, a local boy who drowned when he tried to take a shortcut across an icy river.

Thirty-five years later, in Denver, Melanie dabbles in affairs with married men while clinging to a corporate job that gives her life order even as her tenuous relationships fall apart. She still hasn't learned that the woman who raised her is actually her aunt—or that her birth mother visits her almost every day. This fiercely-guarded secret bonds the two most important women in her life, who hatched a plan to trade places and give Melanie a life unmarred by shame. Yet, as a forest fire rages through the Rocky Mountains and a car accident shakes the family, Melanie finds herself at the center of an unraveling tangle of tragedy and heartbreak.

If the Ice Had Held speaks with a natural lyricism, and presents a cast of characters who quietly struggle through complicated lives.

About Wendy J. Fox

Wendy J. Fox is the author of The Seven Stages of Anger and Other Stories and The Pull of It. She received her MFA from Eastern Washington University, and her work has been published or is forthcoming in many literary reviews, websites, and blogs.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Aslıhan on February 27, 2021

Hayatımızda meydana gelen pek çok tesadüf pek çok irili ufaklı olayın yaşanmamış olduğunda neler olabilirdi, mesela otobüsü kaçırmasaydım, o saatte kahve yapmak yerine evden çıksaydım, aklıma geldiğinde gidip bi baksaydım vs vs.. Kitapta da Sammy kız arkadaşının babasından korkup/çekinip kestirme yol......more

Goodreads review by Mark on May 01, 2019

We are deep into the If the Ice Had Held, a brisk novel told from seven points of view across more than three decades, when 14-year-old Irene thinks about her mother, a woman she never really knew. “Irene was not sure she had any true memories of the woman,” writes Wendy J. Fox, “only scraps and frag......more

Goodreads review by Ben on May 07, 2019

Full Review If the Ice Had Held is a solid work of realist fiction. Fox tells a compelling story of people who grew up in unusual and dysfunctional families and how it affects them. Her prose is poetic without being overbearing and her characters are so real, they feel like people I’ve known. This is......more

Goodreads review by Beth on November 30, 2018

This layered and compassionate novel explores the ways in which a tragic, unexpected loss upends the plans and dreams of the people it affects, leaving them to try to reassemble their broken lives. By weaving together the stories of multiple characters who are affected by such a loss, Fox portrays t......more

Goodreads review by Paula on February 06, 2020

Spellbinding look at the fabric of a life and how we are changed both by our own decisions and events beyond our control. Superb, taut craft. Haunting and unforgettable.......more