Summary of The Ice Palace
Two young girls, Siss and Unn, live in a small village in rural Norway. Siss a popular and lively local girl, while the timid and reserved Unn is new to the village and carries a secret with her. Despite their differences, the two girls become friends. When Unn explores an ice formation made by a frozen waterfall, which the children call the Ice Palace, she does not return…
Reasons to read The Ice Palace
“The Ice Palace” is a simple yet profoundly beautiful and symbolic novella about friendship, loss, and the pains of growing up. Tarjei Vesaas was a celebrated Norwegian novelist, playwright, and poet. He wrote in Nynorsk (‘New Norwegian’), a variant of the Norwegian language (most Norwegians use the other variant, Bokmål, which is closer to Danish). “The Ice Palace” is his most famous work and earned him the 1964 Nordic Council Literature Prize. Other notable books by Vesaas include “The Birds”, “The Seed”, and “The House in the Dark”. In 1987, “The Ice Palace” was adapted into a Norwegian film directed by Per Blom.
Setting: Norway
The name of the village is not mentioned in “The Ice Palace”, but it is likely inspired by Vinje, in Telemark County, where Tarjei Vesaas was born and spent most of his life.
Original title: Is-slottet
Year of publication: 1963
Nr of pages: 144
