People in Hell Want Ice Water
By Edan Lepucki
2020
First Published
2.96
Average Rating
66
Number of Pages
In People in Hell Want Ice Water—an eerie and suspenseful short story about connection, trust, and self-preservation—a random hookup amidst the COVID-19 pandemic brings two lonely people together when they need it most. Colin is an immunocompromised software engineer living alone in Los Angeles when he meets Martha on an early morning walk. She’s irreverent and mysterious, and although Colin knows better than to invite a stranger into his house, it’s been over forty days since he’s been touched, and he can’t resist the temptation. This decision upends his quiet and regimented life: Martha cooks them elaborate meals and uncorks bottle after bottle of wine until they stumble to bed drunk every night. Within days she’s moved in. As their relationship evolves, doubts creep in. Colin and Martha realize just how little they know about one another, and the secrets they each keep begin to come to light.
Avg Rating
2.96
Number of Ratings
468
5 STARS
6%
4 STARS
22%
3 STARS
41%
2 STARS
23%
1 STARS
8%
goodreads
Author
Edan Lepucki
Author · 7 books
Edan Lepucki is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels California and Woman No. 17. Her new novel, Time's Mouth, will be published August 1, 2023. Edan is also the editor of Mothers Before: Stories and Portraits of Our Mothers as We Never Saw Them. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire, The Cut, McSweeney's, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times Magazine, among other publications. She was the guest editor of Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019. She likes taking baths, reading, and filling out forms.
