The Echo of Ice Letting Go

Rooted in the harsh, yet beautiful landscape of Alaska, this collection of poems is at once comforting and disquieting, permeated with wisdom, darkness, and resilience. Taken together, the poems form a powerful narrative, as Julie Hungiville LeMay relates a personal story of the recurrence of cancer and interweaves it with an account of her son’s struggle with addiction. In a world of so much pain, her poems ask, how can we find meaning? The answer, often, is nature: among “spruce branches that whisper” and “the yellow joy / of warblers.” Half-found poems that contain lines from John Muir's essays are arranged throughout the book like touchstones, while other poems invoke the spirit of Wordsworth. LeMay’s voice is precise and clear, her lines musical and sonically rich, making this ambitious, wide-ranging book one that readers won’t soon forget.