I thought this was pretty decent with the various points of view. Plus it was a quick read and only cost $1. I wonder if authors feel bad when they see their books for sale at the dollar store.

I loved this! It's a series of short stories about every time the Thames has frozen over. I loved how every story was put into historical context and the writing is beautiful. Highly recommend!

This is a challenging book to rate because some of it is fabulous and some of it is not. It is a difficult book to write--about 1,000 years of history in short, short stories about each freezing of the Thames. Each one is a different time of history, a different point of view, a character of a different class, age, social role.

That is a lot to take on in a very short book that is barely 200 pages with pictures and a small format. Some of it is beautifully done. Some of it is engrossing, vivid, and exquisite. All of it carried me through to the end. Some of the time, the language was stilted, and I felt that happened when the historical facts had not been worked into the story. At those times the first person narrator felt too intrusively modern, the thoughts and concepts either not fitting the time or not articulated in a way that felt authentic to the time.

I know myself, from writing novels set in other times and places, how tempting it is to put in all the interesting research, and it takes a number of drafts to get the telling detail that gives a sense of time, and to be immersed enough in the time to give it authenticity. I wonder if there wasn't enough time to fully develop those stories.

In any case, I'd recommend the book. It's enjoyable and at times impressive.

3.5 stars.

Helen Humphreys writes,

This book is intended as a long meditation on the nature of ice. Each story is a story of transformation, as ice itself is the result of a transformative process. Because of climate change, brought on by the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we are in danger of losing ice from our world. If ice disappeared, we would not only lose the thing itself and its stabilizing place in the balance of nature, but we would also lose the idea of ice from our consciousness, and all the ways we are able to imagine it."

The book consists of a series of short vignettes, just a few pages long, or considering the pocket size of the book itself, just a few paragraphs long. The stories begin in 1142 and end in 1927, and feature the forty times in history that the great River Thames of England froze. Humphreys uses a variety of voices and viewpoints. Some stories include details about the historic events of that period (e.g. the Black Death). Others describe the inner thoughts or the everyday lives of ordinary Englishmen and women.

However, throughout the book, the major theme is the Thames, and how, almost each time the river froze, the people of England struggled to adapt. At freezing, the anchored ships or those in mid-sail along the river were held fast in one position, and the people inside were stuck. Sometimes, the ice was smooth and hard and clear. In those years, a Frost Fair was built on the iced river, with music, horse races, fox hunting, and other entertainment. But in other years, simply walking across was a perilous journey because of the nature of the ice and the manner in which it froze. And thawing was never gentle.

Above all, the people were reminded that the frozen Thames is not something they can control: "...The river is a wild thing and this cannot be forgotten because, if it is, the Thames will simply arch its back and throw anything off that tries to tame it."

One of the best books I’ve read this year. Humphreys works with words like a jeweller, handpicking each one before she sets it in one of these 40 vignettes. The stories are really short and yet she manages to give you reason to feel very strongly for the characters and find yourself transported to the frozen Thames as if you stood on the ice (which is not a small feat in this heatwave). I will definitely seek more of her books!

This was a super quick read and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. Learned some interesting things about life during the forty different times that the Thames froze over.

Helen Humphreys describes her book as " A meditation on the nature of ice". The author does a wonderful on of weaving actual events into each little vignette about the frozen Thames. A great short read and I learned a fair bit about some people and events I had never heard about.

The Frozen Thames is a historical view of the 40 times in history that the river Thames has frozen. It is a fictional account of many different view points and gentries - from the King to a publican.

It is a very charming book... my favorite parts were the ones with Frost Fairs upon the icy river.

It would be a great thing to see the Thames freeze, but since the destruction of the London Bridge, the waters move to quickly to freeze.

An interesting little book. Very short stories that really pack a punch!