by Helen HumphreysPublished by McClelland & Stewart
~ Review in Halifax Herald, January 2009
There are forty vignettes in this new edition of The Frozen Thames, each telling of a moment in time when the river formed an ice mass which allowed passage. Forty moments because “in it’s long history, the river Thames has frozen solid forty times.”
The stories reach back into history, to times when the ice became a carriageway for Henry VIII (1536), an archery range for Queen Elizabeth I (1565), an escape route for Queen Mathilda under siege at Oxford Castle (1142), and the final path for the beheaded tyrant king, Charles 1 (1649). And often, the frozen river became a site for Frost Fairs.
Kings and queens walk through these pages, but it is working voices whose keen observations narrate the stories that merge fiction with history. We see the river and feel the ice breath of winter through the eyes of Londoners going about their business. Their voices draw us in. Queen Elizabeth’s chambermaid shares her joy of solitude. “The ice is quiet and demands the same ... I feel ... like myself, and I do not know what to call this if not happiness.” And the gravity of the moment is not lost on a man assisting at the execution of Charles I. “ ...to kill one’s king is a solemn business.” We nod, agreeing. We are there.
Humphreys has presented us with a history so readable it is hard to put down. It is almost a bonus that the silken pages of this small book are littered with maps, portraits and artworks, each chosen to complement the story it accompanies. It is a beautiful book.
“This book is intended as a long meditation on the nature of ice . . .” says Humphreys in her author’s note, “[which] we are in danger of losing from our world.” [If this happens] “we would also lose the idea of ice from our consciousness.” A timely and perhaps prophetic statement.
Author's website: http://www.hhumphreys.com/
