From the Introduction:
The winter has been long and hard. For many months, the family has been cooped up in the small hut. Everyone is on everybody’s nerves, and everybody is keeping their feelings on ice. But many years of grudges and complaints lurk right under the surface, and are ceaselessly threatening to break forth.
One early morning, the son of the family sneaks out from the claustrophobic cabin and down to the ice to play. While he moves further and further out onto the creaking ice, the rest of the family slowly awakens, and glares silently at each other over breakfast. When will the ice break, and the cold war break out in flames?