This weekend has been so obnoxiously busy that when I finally got time to sit down and read some more of The Ice Chorus it was completely refreshing. I felt relaxed, lounged on the chaise, like I was straight out of 
an Edith Wharton story.
As with These Granite Islands, Sarah Stonich amazes me with her writing. It’s lyrical and artistic and absorbing. She is truly amazing and I wish for everyone to go pick up her novels, because you will not regret it. The Ice Chorus follows Liselle, a documentary film-maker, fresh from divorce, who has moved to a tiny little town in Ireland. Through the villagers she meets and the stories she hears, Stonich weaves a plot full of flashbacks at just the right moment so we see hints of Liselle’s former life and how she got to this far off place. I had hoped I would enjoy this book as much as her first, and I have yet to be disappointed. Can’t wait to read more later.
As is usual for me, I loved her first book and found Ice Chorus just meh. I always wondered why second books tend to disappoint until I learned about the two-book-deal for new authors. The first book is completely written, but the deal is for a second book, too, with a little extra thrown in. No real incentive to putting out that second fabulous book there. Just my two cents.