Ice

‘There is nothing else like it … This ice is not psychological ice or metaphysical ice; here the loneliness of childhood has been magicked into a physical reality as hallucinatory as the Ancient Mariners.’ -

‘One of the most mysterious of modern writers, Anna Kavan created a uniquely fascinating, fictional world. Few contemporary novelists could match the intensity of her vision.’ -

‘One of the most terrifying postulations about the end of the world … One can only admire the strength and courage of this visionary.’ - The Times

‘One might become convinced that Kavan had seen the future.’ - The New Yorker

‘Ice is Kavans best novel: a sustained and extended metaphor for the descent into, and traverse of, the ice-laden world of the addict … a marvel of descriptive, chilling writing, rich in action and introspection.’ -

Anna Kavan (1901-1968) was born Helen Woods, the only child of wealthy British expatriates, and grew up travelling through Europe and America. She began publishing under her married name, Helen Ferguson, having left her husband in Burma and returned with her son to live in England. After a mental breakdown in the 1930s she began writing under a new name, taken from one of her characters, and with a new style. She continued writing for another three decades, while frequently using heroin and undergoing several rounds of psychiatric hospitalisation. She died shortly after the publication of Ice, her most celebrated work.

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