The Ice Palace

Tarjei Vesaas is a Norwegian treasure. I read The Birds earlier this year and decided to revisit The Ice Palace, his most famous novel. Two girls just start becoming friends. Unn nearly tells Siss a secret and runs away into the cold. Siss spends the novel denying the fact that her friend is likely dead. The town gives up long before she does. There are great moments showing her rage about this. In one scene a new student is about to sit in Unn's old space. Siss yells at the new girl eventually getting the whole class to agree with her. Later on Siss goes to The Ice Palace itself. The weather is more than atmosphere here. It's a captivating character in itself. Vesaas was nominated a few times for the Nobel prize. I don't see why he didn't win. Less worthy writers have won. I will be investigating more of his works.