Blurb: Isabel is a single, twentysomething thrift-store shopper and collector of remnants, things cast off or left behind by others. Glaciers follows Isabel through a day in her life in which work with damaged books in the basement of a library, unrequited love for the former soldier who fixes her computer, and dreams of the perfect vintage dress move over a backdrop of deteriorating urban architecture and the imminent loss of the glaciers she knew as a young girl in Alaska.

This charming novella is a gem. You could easily read it in one sitting.

The language is spare, almost stark in places, but I still got a lasting sense of the main character, Isabel. The story loosely follows Isabel through one day but is sprinkled with enough flashbacks and asides that her whole life is fleshed out.

I was a little leery of this book because Alexia Smith is being touted as a “new voice” but Ms. Smith lacks the pretension of so many of her peers. The writing is clear and beautiful, without artifice. I look forward to reading more from her.