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The Ice Queen

3.47 of 5 stars 3.47 · rating details · 8,123 ratings · 837 reviews

From the bestselling author of Practical Magic, a miraculous, enthralling tale of a woman who is struck by lightning, and finds her frozen heart is suddenly burning.

Be careful what you wish for. A small town librarian lives a quiet life without much excitement. One day, she mutters an idle wish and, while standing in her house, is struck by lightning. But instead of ending...more

Paperback, 211 pages

Published January 3rd 2006 by Back Bay Books (first published April 1st 2005)

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Mar 22, 2012 Chana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american, better-romance, trippy-fiction

Exquisite, I really love Alice Hoffman's writing, all that magic, beauty and love she puts into it makes it something to savor. We have to deal with a significant amount of pain in this one as well, as a little girl who is burdened with the guilt of believing that she has caused her mother's death begins the process of learning to feel again through the cataclysmic event of getting hit by lightening when she is an adult. Weather often plays a large part of Alice Hoffman's stories, it really is a...more

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Aug 11, 2008 Eden rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who like being depressed

Recommended to Eden by: My sister

Shelves: couldn-t-finish, fiction, young-adult

Oh. My. God.

This book. It was never ending! The style of the writing was dull. Yes, some of it did have a poetic twist about it, but really? It was depressing. That's pretty much all that can be said for it - the author can force the reader into depression. When I read the main character's emotions, I actually felt like I was on a down spiral. Yes, that's a good skill. But Alice Hoffman doesn't stop! It is all misery. Not just understandable misery, either. Misery about the stupidest, childish...more

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May 17, 2007 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars

If I could, I'd give this a firm 3 & 1/2 stars because I'm not sure I loved it but I more than liked it. I like/love most of her books. I like fairy tales and this book was full of fairy tale references - the story itself is really a fairy tale. It is short and it is a quick read. I had great trouble warming to most of the main characters but this was meant to be. The last pages made me cry because, in the end, I really felt for those same characters. Any book that elicits tears deserves, I'...more

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Jan 13, 2008 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What an unusual love story!! And what lovely words used to tell it. This book wasn’t anything like what I expected it to be. I was greatly misled by the cover, which said to me — “typical fairytale romance, likely Harlequin style.” But Hoffman is much more sophisticated than that and has a wealth of imagination and wondrously beautiful ideas. I literally devoured the book (and I should have been STUDYING, damnit! LOL!). Only two very minor complaints that pulled this down from a perfect 5: First...more What an unusual love story!! And what lovely words used to tell it. This book wasn’t anything like what I expected it to be. I was greatly misled by the cover, which said to me — “typical fairytale romance, likely Harlequin style.” But Hoffman is much more sophisticated than that and has a wealth of imagination and wondrously beautiful ideas. I literally devoured the book (and I should have been STUDYING, damnit! LOL!). Only two very minor complaints that pulled this down from a perfect 5: First, I had the underlying feeling that she just tried to pack TOO MANY really good ideas into a single book. There were fabulous themes here that could have created more good stories. There were almost TOO MANY symbols to follow. On the other hand, this is a positive, because it gives me a very good reason to read it again and think harder about all the hidden meanings. *grins* Secondly, the last 50 pages fell just slightly flat of the rest of the book. Somehow she lost a bit of the previous intensity, and the story was tied up just a little too neatly at the end. Neither of these detract from the fact that The Ice Queen was a really great read. Recommended.

* * * * *

W A R N I N G - - - S P O I L E R S

This is easily the most unusual and captivating book I’ve read in awhile. We’re talking survivors of lightning strikes, a woman who’s lost the ability to see the colour red, the power of wishes, flesh that glows with gold, a fascination with death and the books that people take out of the library, and of course the theme of ice that permeates the entire novel. This is an author with some truly great ideas, and I couldn’t wait to see what interesting thing might happen next.

Lots and lots of great quotes throughout…. The second quote below reveals a major plot point, so stop reading HERE if you don’t wanna know!! *grins*

“My stomach was lurching around. I was falling into something. Hard. If I stayed, my bones would shatter; I’d break into pieces at his feet. Stupid girl. Stupid me.” [p. 83]

“Lazarus was marked by the moment of his strike, covered by what were called lightning figures. I’d read about them in a book my brother gave me. Usually they were treelike images imprinted on the body of someone struck by lightning. No one was certain if the images were actually trees or if instead they were some interior path of the veins and arteries. Some experts felt that these designs were shadows caused by extreme bright light; similar images could be produced on glass by large charges of electricity. Handprints appeared on trees, or the perfect shadow of a horse might be captured on the side of a barn; the last image a person had seen as he’d been struck by lightning was cast onto his skin, his soul. All that remained.” [p. 134](less)

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Oct 09, 2007 Dawn rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of fractured fairytales

Shelves: speculative-fiction, owned

Here on Earth is still my favorite Alice Hoffman novel. With Hoffman, it's pretty much hit-or-miss but I never hesitate to pick up her books because of her lovely prose. She writes metaphors so well and is able to make the most squalid things seem magical.

This story opens with a selfish little girl who lays a curse on her mother and is forever tortured when her mother dies soon after. She then lives a half-life as a librarian preoccupied with death and fairytales. One day, she wishes herself to...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Kelly Ballard rated it 3 of 5 stars

It took me months to open this book and I am glad I finally did. I had picked it up in the Spring to read on vacation, but then I lost interest for awhile. I had been scared off after re-reading the part about her Mother dying young on the back cover teaser…The story seemed more depressing then uplifting.

But somehow it traveled to the beach with me this summer and thank goodness, as The Ice Queen is a perfect beach read; light, thoughtful and surprising. What surprised me about the book were t...more It took me months to open this book and I am glad I finally did. I had picked it up in the Spring to read on vacation, but then I lost interest for awhile. I had been scared off after re-reading the part about her Mother dying young on the back cover teaser…The story seemed more depressing then uplifting.

But somehow it traveled to the beach with me this summer and thank goodness, as The Ice Queen is a perfect beach read; light, thoughtful and surprising. What surprised me about the book were the intriguing characters and plot twists. The characters were complicated; no one is black and white. Each of us has hidden parts that may shock those around us – “If they only knew…” we wonder silently.

I have always been drawn to plots where the world sees one thing and reality is so much stickier. I like it because it reminds me to think in tones of gray. To remember that there is a completely unknown back-story behind each person that motivates their behaviors every day. The message to me is always the same – sometimes it is not about you.

The narrator of the story is often seen jumping to hysterical conclusions as displayed when she spies on her sister-in-law late one night returning library books, or why her lover only wants to make love in the dark, or even the cause of her mother’s death. The narrator’s inability to see beyond her own self-contempt blurs her perception of events – everyone doesn’t like her, she has no friends, she causes death…

Surprisingly she does have friends and those who care for her, but she can not see it because of her own self-loathing. Since she has not learned to take care of herself, she can not take care of her friendships or even a positive relationship with her brother. The narrator transcends her hurts finally by stopping her self-punishment. Unfortunately and of course, tragic events must unfold for the narrator to finally make peace with the past.

However, a satisfying peace is made and lessons can be gleaned by any reader about perception and reality. It is often a bit of both that creates the moments of your life, for better or worse…

(less)

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Jan 13, 2009 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had a distant cousin who died on his rooftop, shooting photos during a lightning storm. This book instantly drew me in, as the main characters are survivors of lightning strikes.

(p. 79) "But those roses sent by Lazarus Jones were so sharp a person could cut herself and draw blood. That was the key to my riddle. For all I'd done, for all I'd wished, a rose made of ice was exactly what I deserved."
(p. 108) "And yet there it was. The power of a single idea in my head. What was hidden, what was n...more

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Nov 27, 2008 Tilbatilba rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Tilbatilba by: A friend

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 28, 2012 Phyllis Sommers rated it 4 of 5 stars

A hauntingly beautiful novel about a woman's journey from childhood to adulthood, through life-altering events, as she is consumed by guilt and the thought of death.

As a child of eight, the heroine, who's name is never given, angrily wishes her mother would go away forever as she sees her mother leave for a birthday dinner with friends. When, indeed, her mother dies that night in an auto accident, the protagonist is racked with guilt and is never again the same. She and her brother move in with...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, mod-lit

The Ice Queen opens on a common domestic scenario, in which an eight year old, furious because her mother is going out for the evening, petulantly wishes she'd never see her again. Of course, wishing can't make it so, but this little girl, an avid reader of fairy tales, believes it can. Her mother's car skidded on ice, and heavily burdened with guilt, the child freezes herself emotionally, growing up a social isolate obsessed with reading and death. Years later, when she idly wishes she'd be str...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Erica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having recently listened to Practical Magic again as well as by another Hoffman book, I thought I'd check out more of her stuff. I tend to like her writing but realized I haven't really read many of her works.
This one was a bit disappointing.
There was no supernatural background. Not that that's what I look for in a good story, but I do like that presence in her books, specifically. This one is about a bitter librarian who believes she wished her mother dead and, later, she wished her grandmother...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Bianca rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers ready for an emotional rollercoaster ride

On a note of boredom last summer, I picked this book up. I still have it sitting on my desk, and not because it was really, really good, but rather because I find myself still trying to figure out how I feel about it.

Hoffman's prose and diction are beautiful (if not a bit melancholy) throughout the course of the book, which allows for easy flow of reading. However, I found myself getting a little bit upset with the main character for being so self-absorbed. It seemed as if she was so busy writh...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, on-shelf-at-library-so-why-not

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I worked in publishing, I would often read books just out of curiosity about what the author's style was like, or what drew their fans in. One author I was familiar with, but never read, was Alice Hoffman. I recently read The Ice Queen, which is about a librarian, so hey, why not.

The protagonist loses her mother at age 8, for which she blames herself. She grows up into a sort of nonperson, with no friends, only a lover whom she keeps at arm's length. After the death of their grandmother, he...more

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Oct 29, 2009 Alayne Bushey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Ice Queen is more than a story, it’s almost an internal extensive self-dialogue. The narrator (unnamed and it took me the whole novel to realize that) at a young age wishes her mother dead and her wish comes true. Because of this she wanders through the rest of her life half asleep, always cold, and alone. When she is struck by lightning her brother moves her to Florida where the real meat of the story starts. She makes a friend, finds a lover, and salvages a relationship with her brother. I...more

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Oct 27, 2009 Ramona rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Interesting story of a woman who thinks because she wished her mother's death that she caused it & later she dies by lighting strike & comes back. She & her brother, Ned, take an interest in researching & finding out why these people who have reached the point of death somehow return & have strange things that have happened to their bodies. This is a story of loss of love & finding love. A few lines that stayed with me are: Ned says, "Secrets are only knowledge that hasn'...more

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Aug 20, 2009 Jake rated it 4 of 5 stars

I just read this really great book by Alice Hoffman. It's titled The Ice Queen.

From the get-go I was hooked. Hoffman has the knack for creating a narrative that is compelling. The main character, who remains nameless through the whole book, is a woman obsessed with death. As a young girl, she gets mad at her mom as she is driving away. In a moment of fury, she wishes her mom dead. It is the dead of winter and the next day, the young girl wakes up to find that her mom was killed in a car accident...more

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Aug 12, 2009 Rachell rated it 2 of 5 stars

The novel doesn't get to the meat of its story, the relationship between the narrator and her brother, until the last two chapters; until then, the reader has to slog through 100+ pages of the narrator's self-pity. I'm not the kind of reader who demands that the main character has to be likeable, or pleasant, even in a first-person narrative, but Hoffman doesn't present any sort of perspective on her character's relentless negativity. And frankly, the story that takes up the bulk of the novel --...more

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Jul 17, 2009 RNOCEAN rated it 5 of 5 stars

Frozen in misery since age eight, when the mother she wished would disappear promptly obliged by dying in a car wreck, the thirtysomething unnamed narrator of Hoffman's hypnotic new novel has spent her life avoiding meaningful human contact. As a New Jersey reference librarian, she relentlessly pursues the details of death in all its countless causes while engaging in after-hours backseat trysting with a local cop. After settling near her brother in Florida, the narrator is struck by lightning....more

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Oct 28, 2012 Evie Woolmore rated it 4 of 5 stars

This profoundly evocative and atmospheric book is a gripping read, although in many respects not a huge amount happens. It hovers on the fringes of magical realism, not because it is particularly mystical in content but because of the style of writing and the way in which the scientific and factual details (such as the lightning, which forms the core of the book's energy) is depicted and employed. In that, it is extremely well crafted as a novel whose world is so powerfully established that it d...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Jen A. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, kindle

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The first word I want to use to describe The Ice Queen is "beautiful," but this adjective requires some explanation.

The protagonist, a woman whom I don't think we ever actually name, is eight years old when she selfishly wishes her mother -- 30 years old and out to celebrate her birthday, leaving our narrator home alone with her older brother, Ned -- dead. When the mother is actually killed in a road accident involving bald tires and winter ice, the girl believes that her wish came true. She loc...more The first word I want to use to describe The Ice Queen is "beautiful," but this adjective requires some explanation.

The protagonist, a woman whom I don't think we ever actually name, is eight years old when she selfishly wishes her mother -- 30 years old and out to celebrate her birthday, leaving our narrator home alone with her older brother, Ned -- dead. When the mother is actually killed in a road accident involving bald tires and winter ice, the girl believes that her wish came true. She locks herself down emotionally and mentally, becoming the ice queen with a diamond heart.

Obviously, this guilt, self-blame, and self-pitying survives with her into adulthood. She's an island of ice, living with her brother and grandmother. The more realistic, gruesome fairy tales that she loved as a child (and now even more so, a form of literary penance where sometimes there is no happily ever after) are threaded throughout this entire novel in an inventive way, explaining much of our narrator's outlook on and understanding of life. As a librarian, she's well versed in all of the most obscure fairy tales, and discovers a fascination? obsession? with death, researching it until she all but becomes an expert on the topic.

When the grandmother dies, she falls into herself like an individual black hole. Her brother comes up from Florida to rescue her from herself, and moves her down to Florida to be closer to him. There, feeling completely set adrift and dispossessed, she becomes a victim of a lightning strike.

Now, I feel it's important to note that this woman should NOT be a likeable character -- without ever talking about her guilt and grief, she's almost completely withdrawn and self-centered. She's engrossed in her own pain and pity, and finds it incredibly difficult to empathize with anyone else. Her strength comes from her silence, and her impression of being encompassed in ice from her heart to her skin. Yet somewhere in there, threading itself along in between the words and her actions is some sense of what she might be if she could just come to terms with what has happened to her. If she could learn to accept that there were outside forces at work, and her wishes are not all to blame. This quality, built into this character, left me strangely in her corner -- I wanted to read on, to see if she'd "get it", to see what she'd become. I wanted her to find a version of happily ever after, where wishes don't end in death.

I suppose it is that juxtaposition within the main character, and Hoffman's writing, that makes me immediately want to describe this novel as "beautiful".

I also have an odd soft spot for books and films that do exquisite justice to death and dying. The Ice Queen is no exception -- from introducing us to a variety of characters that are all lightning strike victims, describing their various fears, hopes, troubles and gifts, to the mother's death? suicide?, to the grandmother's death, to Ned's struggle with pancreatic cancer... Hoffman gets it all right. Each character is unique, dignified in his/her own way, and each character is lost, searching for a way to be found, and each character faces his/her reality in different, human ways. These characters are a tribute to Hoffman's empathy, and her dedication to real and believable characters.

After reading The Ice Queen, I definitely see myself picking up other books by Hoffman in the future. I like how *complete* the entire book felt -- as if it was really well thought out, not written in haste. Hoffman ties all of her loose ends up neatly after weaving a complete picture, a satisfying read.(less)

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Sep 03, 2011 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that I loved the way it began and loved the way it ended, it the middle I was wishy-washy at times, but as I said the ending pulled it back up into one I like and would recommend.

Accepting blame for what there is no blame to be had, making wishes and having them come true, living in despair over one's life; these are the makings of this story. But this is also a tale woven with hope, triumph, and a little bit of that "happily ever after".

One of the sentences that summe...more

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Apr 19, 2011 Maria rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think we've all been asked a thousand times about our favorite books. I've always found it hard to answer and so I would mention my favorite authors instead. But then I found this book. I don't really know what happened... I think it was love at first sight. This is one of those books in which every single word matters. I know that's supposed to happen in every single novel but this book is different... each word is a precious piece in the brilliantly built puzzle that is this story. The emoti...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Femke rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, roman

Ik had al veel gehoord over dit boek, vooral veel lovende reacties en dus was ik enorm benieuwd naar dit boek. Ik mocht het ontvangen van Orlando Uitgevers zelf, nadat ik het boek via hun website gewonnen had.

In het begin komt het boek op mij zeer vaag en teleurstellend over. Het verhaal loopt door elkaar en je kunt er eigenlijk geen touw aan vast knopen. Een zeer taai begin, maar ik bleef stug doorlezen. Halverwege het boek wordt je door de schrijfster meegenomen naar een fantasy wereld en kun...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Kimberly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

This book started off really interesting. The main character is struck by lightning, and finds herself living with the side effects of this, and learning about the side effects of other strike victims. I continually found myself wondering about the effects of people who have been struck by lightning and wondering how much of the book was true. But then things jumped right into the realm of the unbelievable, like a guy who would burn you if you touched his skin, or another that could spit fire. W...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While reading this book, I began to feel like I was on psychedelic drugs, or at least what I think I would feel like if I took psychedelic drugs. I never have. But, the feeling that came over me as I read about the unnamed woman who commands this story was like listening to PINK FLOYD, underwater. The woman, orphaned young, raised by her grandmother, and wishing to be hit by lightning, is. Hit by lightning. Then she goes into a support group (arranged by her brother, the doctor) for people who h...more

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Aug 07, 2010 Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Stories about self-discovery, tragedy with mystical elements

Shelves: romance, fantasy, contemporary

"The Ice Queen" marks my first read from Alice Hoffman. Overall, I have to say that it was a good read, so much so that it surprised me. Given that the protagonist isn't the most likable character to follow at first, it more than surprised me when I found myself endearingly following her through her experiences, loves, and on the road to recovery from tragedies in this book. Granted, there's just a smidge of mystical elements that give the story a poetic quality, but I would note this isn't a st...more "The Ice Queen" marks my first read from Alice Hoffman. Overall, I have to say that it was a good read, so much so that it surprised me. Given that the protagonist isn't the most likable character to follow at first, it more than surprised me when I found myself endearingly following her through her experiences, loves, and on the road to recovery from tragedies in this book. Granted, there's just a smidge of mystical elements that give the story a poetic quality, but I would note this isn't a story for everyone.

The novel revolves around a woman who blames herself for events beyond her control - in particular her mother's death at a very young age. She ultimately wallows in such a depression through her life that one would likely be repelled by her in the first several pages alone. Let it be known that I didn't necessarily like the protagonist at this point, but I did like the style of the prose and how true it could be for someone like the protagonist to have those self-defeating thoughts and actions. However, things hit a turning point after she's struck by lightning in a freak event - leading to her connection in a recovery group designed for survivors. The people she meets as a result of that and how events unfold thereafter are the building blocks for the story that progresses. The latter was what really pulled me into the story, and I saw the growth in the protagonist, though she does retain quite a bit of her bite. Part of me liked the way the characters were handled and how their relationships had weighted significance, the other part of me loved the bits of mystical elements that were peppered in to make it that much more.

On the contrary, some elements of the book I didn't like were that it did tend to drag its feet in terms of the pacing and the measure that there wasn't a build up to much greater other than the character's own realization of events. The nameless protagonist (which suggests some measure of disconnect akin to what she feels in the story) does tend to be off-putting in her aloofness and self-deprecation. However, the story does have one central message - that sometimes we have to balance looking at ourselves and what lies beyond us in order to understand the whole of the world we live in.

I'll certainly check into Hoffman's other works to see what she has to offer, but this was an engaging read that had me through most of the time I read it, despite a few caveats.

Overall score: 3/5(less)

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Jun 17, 2011 Jen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-general, fantasy

The book was good. I don't know if it was me or not, but I have never in my life been so depressed by a book. It was very heavy for me. I thought the protagonist was likeable.

"In chaos theory, does it matter what color the butterfly is?"
p.51

"What is the difference between love and obsession? Didn't both make you stay up all night, wandering the streets, a victim of your own imagination, your own heartbeat? Didn't you fall into both, headfirst into quicksand? Wasn't every man in love a fool and...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

A few critics enjoyed Hoffman's foray into the fairy tale genre, calling it a stunning feat of storytelling that breathes new life into the fable's ancient themes of reward and retribution. But others concluded that Hoffman (Blackbird House **** Nov/Dec 2004) strayed too far "into the woods" between a modern story and the fables of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, particularly the latter's "Snow Queen." For many, the author relied too much on clunky metaphor, lulling summary, and

...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an exciting adventure in a women's life who thinks of herself as a cold person mostly because her mother dies in the month of January and she blames herself for it because she wished her mother to die. As the story unfolds she follows her brother to live in Florida where she gets struck by lightning and has many side effects from it, one being she can't see the color red. She gets involved with her opposite, a man who has a warm/hot body temperature because of getting struck by lightning...more

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Mar 25, 2011 Karly Abreu rated it 4 of 5 stars

A beautiful story of the ties that bind, the importance of love, and the nature of guilt. Alice Hoffman's prose weaves a powerful spell, both realistic, and steeped in the magic of fairy tale and impossible coincidence. She fills this tragic, wonderful story with dimensional characters, running a gamut of emotions, speaking in real dialogue. This is a story of a woman who walks through death for most of her life, only to find what she wants most is to live, to love, to grasp the world fully. In...more

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About Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman was born in New York City on March 16, 1952 and grew up on Long Island. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended Adelphi University, from which she received a BA, and then received a Mirrellees Fellowship to the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, which she attended in 1973 and 74, receiving an MA in creative writing. She currently lives in Boston and New York...more Alice Hoffman was born in New York City on March 16, 1952 and grew up on Long Island. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended Adelphi University, from which she received a BA, and then received a Mirrellees Fellowship to the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, which she attended in 1973 and 74, receiving an MA in creative writing. She currently lives in Boston and New York.

Hoffman’s first novel, PROPERTY OF, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. She credits her mentor, professor and writer Albert J. Guerard, and his wife, the writer Maclin Bocock Guerard, for helping her to publish her first short story in the magazine Fiction. Editor Ted Solotaroff then contacted her to ask if she had a novel, at which point she quickly began to write what was to become PROPERTY OF, a section of which was published in Mr. Solotaroff’s magazine, American Review.

Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published a total of sixteen novels, two books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults. Her novel, HERE ON EARTH, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. PRACTICAL MAGIC was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, AT RISK, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from LOCAL GIRLS, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. BLACKBIRD HOUSE is a book of stories centering around an old farm on Cape Cod. Hoffman's recent books include AQUARMARINE and INDIGO, novels for pre-teens, and The New York Times bestsellers THE RIVER KING, BLUE DIARY, THE PROBABLE FUTURE, and THE ICE QUEEN. GREEN ANGEL, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale about loss and love, was published by Scholastic and THE FORETELLING, a book about an Amazon girl in the Bronze Age, was published by Little Brown. This fall Little Brown published the teen novel INCANTATION, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year. In January 2007, SKYLIGHT CONFESSIONS, a novel about one family’s secret history, was released on the 30th anniversary of the publication of Hoffman’s first novel.

Hoffman’s work has been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Her novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Weist. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, Redbook, Architectural Digest, Gourmet, Self, and other magazines. Her teen novel AQUAMARINE was recently made into a film starring Emma Roberts.
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“People hide their truest nature. I understood that; I even applauded it. What sort of world would it be if people bled all over the sidewalks, if they wept under trees, smacked whomever they despised, kissed strangers, revealed themselves?” — 151 people liked it

“You can be betrayed in your sleep. The whole world can tilt while you're dreaming of butterflies. ” — 108 people liked it

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