Lizzie

'You can hear the ice cracking' is a love story, a family tragedy and - in a medical and social setting - a dissection of the ideas of a welfare state... Does it work? If not, why not? Phoebe Finch, an idealistic medical student, falls in love with Precious Ellington, a researcher into healthcare and welfare systems, from Harlem, New York. The clinical disasters affecting Phoebe's family illustrate points made by Precious. And they challenge us to ask what a welfare state is for. Who should benefit? And who should not?