The Little Girl on the Ice Floe
The Little Girl on the Ice Floe is an unflinching memoir of one survivor’s struggle to not only survive but overcome sexual trauma. When Adélaïde Bon was nine years old, her parents discovered her in her bedroom, unable to speak or to stop crying. After being ferried away to a police station, a sexual touching charge was filed against an unknown man who assaulted her in the stairwell of her apartment complex. Over twenty years later, Bon finds herself in a courtroom, finally facing down the man dubbed “The Electrician” in reference to the ruse he often used to gain access to his victim’s homes. She would come to learn he was charged with assaulting seventy-two children over a period of two decades. Chronicling years of suppression, counseling for PTSD, and the trial itself, Bon paints a powerful portrait of the impact of childhood sexual assault, never shying away from even the most taboo aspects of recovering from sexual trauma. As uncomfortable as it is important, The Little Girl on the Ice Floe is a firsthand exploration into a global tragedy.
The Little Girl on the Ice Floe, Adélaïde Bon, Europa Editions, Paperback $17.00 (224pp), 978-1-60945-515-6
Danielle Ballantyne
