The Thickness of Ice

The Thickness of Ice is a tender and tragic tale set in the remote subarctic town of Churchill, Manitoba, on Hudson Bay. The barren icy landscape pervades the characters' lives and relationships. As the novel opens Wade confesses that he was responsible for the death of his best friend Jack three years after meeting him. They had been arguing about Tess, a Dene woman they were both in love with. Jack's body was never found, and Wade never admitted to the act.
It was assumed that Jack had left abruptly. However, many years later, Wade meets Esther who moves to Churchill to live with him. She hears the story of Jack's disappearance. To bring some closure to Wade, she determines to resolve what happened to Jack. For Wade, his carefully constructed life is now threatened. Gerard Beirne holds Canadian and Irish citizenship. He has published three novels, three books of poetry, and a collection of short stories.
His short story collection In a Time of Drought and Hunger was shortlisted for The Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Gerard has lived in Northern Manitoba and also taught English at the University of New Brunswick. He now teaches Creative Writing and Literature at ATU Sligo, Ireland. Reviews and Praise "Set in the Canadian tundra, Gerard Beirne's exquisite novel The Thickness of Ice is more than a love story; it's a story of culpability and redemption, propelled by a twenty-five-year-old mystery.