Cold Spell (The Alaska Literary Series) by Deb Vanasse

Cold Spell (The Alaska Literary Series) Reviews

• 
  Stephanie Cole

  There is the Alaska that most people around the world might envision, and then there’s the Alaska that you know if you’ve lived there. There is no question that Deb Vanasse has lived there. COLD SPELL is spot on accurate in its depiction of a vast landscape filled with unbelievable beauty and huge challenges. In COLD SPELL, Ruth, not long divorced, a bit bewildered and trying her best to be a good mother, becomes obsessed with a glacier near Resurrection, Alaska after she finds a picture in a magazine. When she meets and falls in love with a man from Resurrection, Ruth moves with her two daughters to the tiny, remote Alaskan town. Teenage daughter Sylvie is outraged at the abrupt uprooting, and enters into epic struggles with her mother which are typical but exacerbated by their circumstances.
  
  The story is told through Ruth’s and Sylvie’s voices, and the two voices compel the reader to identify with both of them. Ruth is trying her best but is unprepared for the life she embraced without any realistic knowledge of what it would entail. Sylvie’s adolescent yearnings and dreams are painful, confused and vivid. Their conflicts mirror family issues that could occur anywhere, but the family’s isolation and unease with their new environment adds pressure on their difficulties.
  
  And looming over everything is the close-by glacier, massive and alive. Vanasse uses glacial terms to name her chapters, so the characters and their actions are linked to the natural forces that form and splinter the river of ice. Very effective.
  
  Vanasse’s prose is straightforward and accessible, and the book is a fast read. I didn’t want to put it down. I did raise a slightly skeptical eyebrow at the very final scenes (no spoilers here) but the ending is lyrical and poetic, and brings the novel to an appropriately dramatic conclusion.
  
  If you’re interested in reading a novel that accurately depicts life in interior rural Alaska, this is the book for you.
• 
  Jen

  Such a great read! I was so swept up with the characters and story that I finished this book in a day, which is not typical of me. Vanasse's adept pacing and knack for tension hooked me from page one and still hasn't let go, and I finished the book last night! The two main characters's, mother and daughter, points of view criss cross throughout the novel in a masterful way. At times they contradict one another and at times they lend further insight . . . the whole thing adds a wonderful depth to the novel and the duplicity of the whole thing STILL has my head spinning! The Alaskan landscape is beautifully woven into the twining stories, the glacier a character in its own right. I highly recommend this novel.
• 
  Efehan Elbi

  Having just seen that only 83 other people read Cold Spell this YEAR, I suddenly feel the need to review. I came across Cold Spell on Kobo, and couldn't have been more pleased. A grounded and beautiful novel about a family's move to Alaska, very real characters, and (for me, anyway) a glimpse of a lifestyle that I'd never really considered in detail before. A coming-of-age story in one sense, but about many other things, and one of my favourite reads (and favourite random finds) of the year.
  
  I very much hope more than 84 people on Goodreads get the chance to read it next year.
• 
  Jamie Pancake

  This story sheds light on how a parent's decisions will affect her children. Ruth is a mother, who develops an unhealthy obsession with a glacier in Alaska, and as a result, clings to her boyfriend Kenny, who takes Ruth and her children to Alaska to live alongside the glacier. Sylvie, a teenager with friends she has to leave back home, is not happy with the decision, but her younger sister, who is more willing to adapt to the new surroundings, feels the opposite. Ruth struggles with whether she has made the right decision for her kids, both having a different outlook on the situation, and whether her relationship with her boyfriend, Kenny, will stand the test of time. This book is a good read, and I can relate to the characters well, being a mother as well as a child that moved around a lot.
• 
  Suzanne

  My first impression of this book is that it is beautifully written — ornate in a fashion that each sentence carries weight and literary substance. Cold Spell reads like solemn poetry with a story slipped in.
  
  Vanasse’s knowledge of Alaskan wildlife and of its landscape and glaciers is indeed impressive. At times, the story is stalled by intelligent and detailed depictions of the untamed land. The author runs off in tangents of descriptive prose, bordering close to overload. It did not move the story forward, but instead made me stay still and admire the harsh and beautiful environment of rural Alaska.
  
  The story harbors on universal questions about need and want, and that of unanswered longing, a longing for something as intangible as it is elusive. Unfortunately, along with the beautiful prose came paragraphs of church gatherings where a barrage of unremembered neighbors spoke of God, and a schematic-like segment on the particulars of assembling an all-terrain 8-wheeler, from gear ratios to transaxle automatic transmission. Like speed bumps, these scenes slowed the story and kept it from unfolding as fast as I would have liked it to. I was unsure why the author was so vested in feeding us this knowledge, but as a writer myself; it is with admiration that I felt the completeness of this story, in all its details.
  
  Throughout the story, the structure of a glacier is compared to life with its enormity, hardness, dangers and cracks. Vanasse wove a tale that is profound and deep, and as a reader, I was forced to be patient and follow her story at its deliberate, methodical pace. This was a book I had to slow down to read. There is no rushing Cold Spell. For my patience, I was rewarded with a story that is rich and substantial.
• 
  Melinda Brasher

  This is an absorbing story, and the feelings of isolation—not just geographical—are palpable.
  
  Being quite obsessed with Alaska at the moment, I find the portrait of this particular rural Alaskan community very interesting, though I actually enjoyed the first half of the book more. Perhaps this is because I identified so strongly with the mother and her magazine picture. Then, when she got to Alaska, her reaction surprised me and I found myself disconnecting a little. But this is all part of the complexity of the characters, and Deb Vanasse did a great job at it. I had a hard time keeping a few of the minor characters straight, since so many were introduced together, but that didn’t detract much from the story.
  
  The style is very literary, very introspective. It’s thus a little slow, but in a good way, a deep way. Some of the prose has the feel of poetry to it. Like much poetry, individual bits may not be clear, cloaked in metaphor and hiding things between the lines, but all together they create a cohesive whole that beautifully conveys the atmosphere and the emotions of the characters.
  
  The ending isn’t tied up in a bow, which is realistic and literary, but I needed just a bit more closure, even if it wasn’t happy. I want to know what was going to happen to these characters I care about, and what final decisions they’re going to make.
  
  Cold Spell was a very good read, and I look forward to more of Deb Vanasse’s work.
  
  
  *I received an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review*
  
• 
  Carol

  Beautifully crafted, the words and images of COLD SPELL spill over like glacial water. The book moves in delicious chunks, from the twisty relationship nuances of a divorced mom and her school-age girls, to the languid pace of a wholly different life in Alaska. Deb Vanasse describes the cold waters, ice and glaciers in this rugged land with such vivid detail that the place becomes its own character. She weaves color into the sameness of the locale through the quirks of its inhabitants. From the Bible studying women, girl-chasing teens to Ruth’s sassy neighbor Tommy, Vanasse observes without judging, how people in an almost too-close community don’t forget each other’s history and how insularity can create an edge of menace.
  
  Once Ruth moves with her daughters to Alaska, the pace of the story slows, perhaps purposefully, mirroring the pace of life in a place known for its frigidity. The characters build little by little, leaving you wondering about their inner motivations. The man Ruth’s met through mutual admiration of a glacier, Kenny. Ruth’s older daughter, Sylvie – how far will a bored teen go to rebel?
  
  A literary work, the story is not propelled forward by plot. Rather, read this book for the beauty of language.
  
  I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Samaris Creech

  After the abrupt departure of her husband Ruth is just trying to make a life for herself and her girls. She finds herself fascinated with a picture of a glacier she finds in a magazine and even goes so far as to frame it. If one were to believe in fate then one could say that the day Kenny walked into Ruth’s life was fate’s intention. For Kenny’s home is where the glacier she has been obsessing over is. When Ruth makes the decision to move to Alaska with Kenny she does so with the best of intentions. Sylvie her oldest daughter who is still struggling with the loss of her father is crushed by the news that they will be leaving the only home she has ever known. Sylvie is also struggling with adolescent yearnings of her own and is quite put off by the move. This is a riveting tale that will keep you reading the characters are well thought out and the author has a way of making you feel like you are actually in the rural of Alaska yourself. Join Ruth and Sylvie on their journey.
• 
  Susan McBeth (Adventures by the Book)

  In alternating voices, Deb Vanasse unfolds the story of Ruth Sanders, a divorced Midwestern mother, and her teen daughter Sylvie, reeling from her father's recent abandonment. Believing her fate is connected to a glacier pictured in a magazine she has framed on her desk, she unexpectedly uproots Sylvie and younger sister Anna to follow a man to Alaska in search of the glacier she believes will fulfill an unexplained longing in her. While Anna is young enough to go with the flow, Sylvie, on the other hand, asserts her teenage rebellion and takes every opportunity to rebel in their new life. And when Sylvie makes a choice that could have devastating consequences, Ruth is forced to confront what that glacier really represents for her family. I love discovering talented new authors, and would highly recommend Cold Spell for others who wish to do the same.
• 
  T. Louise

  As a resident of Alaska, I can testify to the authenticity of this story. Like many people who wind up in this state, Ruth, the adult protagonist moves north because of a fascination with the far north. You either love or hate Alaska, and Ruth's daughter, Sylvie, knows she is going to hate it and then proves herself right. The depiction of small, remote community is spot on, including the conflict between the two factions typically attracted to rural Alaska (the conservative religious and the misfit iconoclasts). If you want to read about the real Alaska, read this book. It will either make you want to come to Alaska or run fast the other way--but no matter what, you will be fascinated by this absorbing story, caught up in the compelling descriptions of the landscape, and dazzled by Vanasse's prose.
• 
  Jean

  This is a strange tale about a woman and her two daughters who are grieving the loss of life as they had known it. Ruth's husband leaves her for another woman and the daughters learn a new version of the father they loved. Ruth becomes obsessed with the picture in a magazine of a glacier. She learns all she can about glaciers. Eventually, Kenny comes into her life through happenstance and he just happens to have a home next to the glacier. Ruth packs up the girls and off they go with Kenny to Alaska. The story is about Ruth and the girls coming to terms with a new life. It is a strange story.
• 
  Carol N

  Is risking everything to start over worth it? This is one of the major themes of Vanasse's coming of age, wilderness tale - "Cold Spell.' Having found myself lately, enchanted with reading about our most northern state, Alaska, and the hardships of living off the grid, I found this novel, a slice of Alaska one rarely sees. It is a story of a young mother and her two daughters, born and raised in the Midwest and lured to the Far North by ragtag lover and a glacier that the mother believes will fulfill her unexplained longing. The story is real, its riveting,and filled with descriptions you can feel, taste and smell.
• 
  Forever Young Adult

  Graded By: Brian
  Cover Story: Below that Ol' White Mountain, Just a Little Southeast of Nome
  Drinking Buddy: No Running Water
  Testosterone/Estrogen Level: Epic Beard
  Talky Talk: Here's the Story of a Lovely Lady, Who Was Bringing Up Two Very Lovely Girls
  Bonus Factors: Alaska, Lolita Wanna Be
  Bromance Status: That Dude I Knew That Summer I Worked in Valdez
  
  Read the full book report
  here.
• 
  Susan

  Cold Spell is a cautionary tale about acting on an obsession. The pace is crisp but not breakneck, the descriptions unique in a place few have experienced, and there are a few surprises that kept me reading. Though it doesn't describe itself as such, it feels to me like a young adult novel. Plenty of teens would recognise themselves in some of the characters, as would young adults making their way in the world.
• 
  RK

  I'll echo what other reviewers state: the scenery is spot on. The secondary characters are also dead ringers for a lot of the people I've met living here.
  I do thank my lucky stars we relocated to Alaska with a 13 year old. This book further solidifies our decision to move before he started high school!
• 
  Carol

  Finally, a novel set in Alaska describing it as it is. No romanticizing. Accurate depiction of bush community split between Christians and "free spirits." I did not care for either of the protagonists, but it's their wacky expectations that drive the plot.
• 
  monica seiger

  Promise of a good book
  
  The premise of the book sounded interesting. I thought it held promise of an interesting read in the beginning of the book. As the story continued it went from entertaining to boring every day issues.
• 
  Carole

  I tried to read this a year ago or so, but I found it rather boring and this time as well. I tried to skip over the religious part but I still found it not interesting to me, and I quit reading it.
• 
  Amy Hobby

  Don't recommend. Good enough to keep me interested, but kept expecting it to get better.
• 
  Beatrice P

  A mother decides to live the rugged country life in Alaska. Lovely descriptions of the Alaska landscape and emotional and sensual at times.