The Iceweaver

by Margaret Lawrence

Book Overview

Margaret Lawrence's unparalleled talent for creating rich and complex characters and for conjuring up the great riddles of history has been widely celebrated. In this superb novel, the critically... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380976218
• ISBN13: 9780380976218
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

more please

All of the novels in this series were good, but this one is something spectacular, most probably because the author allowed herself to leave the conventions of the mystery novel behind and let the story develop on its own.This is a stunning book, beautifully realized.

Bittersweet historical novel

Margaret Lawrence's talent for creating strong, unforgettable characters continues in this historical novel featuring Jennet Trevor, the deaf and mute daughter of Hannah Trevor. Hannah Trevor, the Maine midwife featured in Margaret Lawrence's Hearts and Bones series, only appears at the very beginning of the book, when John Frayne, newly returned to his confiscated New York home after the American revolution, observes Jennet slipping her body into the lake on his property. Frayne, an early 19th century collector and redeemer of the lost and the frightened, slowly draws Jennet back into the land of the living along with other memorable characters, like a crippled French soldier. In the process he invokes fear, loathing, love and lust.Like many of Lawrence's works, this is a bitter-sweet story, hard-edged and uncompromising in its portrayal of both love and anger. It is also deeply satisfying and it will be hard to put down once you pick it up!

Wonderful Story!

I've been a fan of Margaret Lawrence from the beginning. I have to admit that I was slow to pick "The Iceweaver" up to read, because Hannah Trevor is not in this story. I also have to admit that I felt cheated that we missed out on the last 23 years of Hannah and Daniel's life. I got over my sulking very quickly. Ms. Lawrence is such a wonderful storyteller that it wasn't until I was reading the other reviews that I realized that there was no murder mystery! This is a very engrossing tale of love and life. The author does a great job in developing all the new characters needed to tell this tale. The crowning achievement of character development is Jennet. Ms. Lawrence does an outstanding job with Jennet. This was another one of my concerns with reading this book. How could a deaf and mute character carry a story? Well in this author's capable hands, it is not a problem. Jennet comes through alive and well. She one of the most interesting characters I have ever read. I always liked Jennet in the other books and even found myself wondering what would become of her after Hannah died. Well, she has grown into a full and wonderful character. Ms. Lawrence gives Jennet a lot of warmth, love, understanding and caring, but with that stubborn and determined personally of Hannah's. The plot of this story is also written very well too. Ms. Lawrence has a great and vast understanding of the life and times of the people in the early 1800's. She delivers this knowledge with a wonderful command of the language, both past and present, so that the reader can fully understand what it was like during these times. I love the author's use of everyday chores to help the reader understand the harshness of life. After reading Margaret Lawrence's four books, I have to wonder that anyone lived long enough to produce the next generation. These books are a wonderful testament to human nature. I not only recommend "The Iceweaver" but all of Ms. Lawrence's books, start with "Hearts and Bones" and read them all.

Moving Historical Novel

As a fan of Margaret Lawrence's previous mystery novels set shortly after the Revolutionary War, I was eager to read The Iceweaver. Even though it wasn't a mystery, it had everything I had admired about her other books: lush language, conflicted and interesting characters, and a real sense of time and place. Highly recommended.

The Iceweaver

This is an absorbing historical novel. Fans of Margaret Lawrence will probably expect another historical mystery set in post revolutionary America, especially as the chief female protagonist in this novel is Jennet Trevor, Hannah Trevor's mute daughter. (Hannah Trevor is the featured heroine of three previous mystery novels). This book however is not a mystery novel. It is a historical novel that deals mainly with how people pick themselves up and deal with the cards that fate has dealt them.The novel is set in 1809 in the town of New Forge in New York. The War of Independence may be over but there is another conflict at hand. Memories are long, and whether or not one was a patriot during the revolutionary war still means something. As the novel begins, we are introduced both to Jennet Trevor and John Frayne, two tortured souls. Jennet has lost her mother, and because she is mute, she is shunned and feared. She has been living in the forest like a wild forest creature, when she is captured by the local parish authorities. And this is where John Frayne first comes in. He saves Jennet from a gang rape. She is later proclaimed as a madwoman and an indigent. John then buys her as an indentured servant.John himself is not without a history of pain and suffering. He is the son of the former chief landholder of New Forge who was hanged as a loyalist sympathiser. Ten years ago however he was driven out of New Forge chiefly because of his wife's adultery and cruelty. Now he's returned in order to reclaim the lands that should rightfully be his and his family. However his wife has remarried and his son no longer wishes to know him. Soon rumours are flying of the supposed Frayne treasure and of a British spy at large. And then it come to light that the current ownership of the Frayne lands could be in dispute. What one has here are the ingredients for a disaster, almost of biblical proportions.What makes Margaret Lawrence's book memorable is the wonderful way in which she shades each character in grey. John's wife Hester for example. It would be simple to despise her. But under Lawrence's skillful hands we see how confining Hester found married life, and how she perceived childbearing as a loss of self. Also Hester's second husband at first comes across as an uncouth indiviual, but Lawrence also portrays him as a loving father to Frayne's son.This is an absorbing book and one that should be enjoyed like a good glass of port.