Clarie is not only the main character of A Killing Freeze, but she is the novel's narrator. She is engagingly intelligent, with her narrative sparkling with ideas. Tall and thin, she looks like a boy, something which does not seem to bother her. Her mother was a teen-ager when Clarie was born, and her mother abandoned her. Her father was then seventeen years old, but he took on a parent's responsibilities and raised her.

They lived for about ten years with his parents, then they moved to the home they had built themselves. Clarie takes pride in contributing to the welfare of her father and herself, and she finds her work fulfilling. In part because she and her father share in their labors, they have a particularly strong bond of mutual respect and love.

The other characters in A Killing Freeze are not as...