Book Review: The Frozen Thames

Last night I finished the delightful novel, The Frozen Thames and just had to blog about it immediately! of course it was past 1am when I finished it, so it had to wait until now.

The Frozen Thames tells the story of the 40 times that the river Thames has frozen from the 12th century to the 20th century. The book is very short and compact, numbering only 181 pages some of which are illustrations. However, the stories are extremely vivid and deserve a second or even third reading. Each year has a different story which ranges from two to 6 pages depending. The characters are different in each (though I believe there is one overlap) and vary in age, social class, gender, and even species. I have to state that these passages are not exactly stories but tiny glimpses into certain people's (or animals') lives. A few of the stories have nothing to do with the river besides a brief mention of its freezing and instead focus on the unbearable cold. Some of the most interesting sections are those that tell of the fairs that were thrown on the river.

What makes this novel so extraordinary, is Humphreys' amazing descriptions and writing style. Her prose are smooth and there is not a single word wasted. The reader can actually feel the frigid air pour off the page. There is no time to feel a connection towards that characters, but that is not her purpose. The reason for her writing is to have the reader form a bond with the freezing of the river and to ice in general. Her author's note states that there may be a time when there is no more naturally produced ice and people will forget what a frozen pond looks like. She has certainly succeeded in her goal because I doubt there is a single reader of this novel who will be able to forget it or the frozen Thames.

-DLP