It was inevitable that Edna Ferber should write a novel about Alaska. The magnetic northern land has all the qualities that draw her to a scene—robustness, magnitude, epic tradition, the clash of strong-willed men and their stubborn duel with Nature. In her novel "Ice Palace" she has put more of Alaska between covers than any other writer in its short and crowded history….

The Ice Palace is a steel-and-glass apartment hotel in the bustling town of Baranof, halfway up the long Alaskan coast. It is also a kind of emblem of Alaska—people inside it can see out, but the people outside cannot see in….

Inside and Outside is the conflict in this novel, and Chris Storm's two grandfathers are allied with the two forces…. Between the two forces is Edna Ferber's heroine, who is like Alaska itself: "Beneath her shining surface were hidden treasures and wonders...