About:
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is a novel taking place in Alaska, about a childless couple in 1920s Alaska who finds a child in the snow. Ms. Ivey is a writer from Alaska, this is her first novel.
- 400 pages
- Publisher : Reagan Arthur Books
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 0316175676
My rating for The Snow Child – 5
Buy The Snow Child from Amazon.com*
More books by Eowyn Ivey*
Thoughts:
This book has been on my “To Be Read” list since it came out, I bought it a few years later at a library sale, and finally managed to read it. This is one of those books that was difficult to put down, a great story and very well written.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey depicts the harsh life in the Alaskan frontier, but also the an homage to the enormous and stunning wilderness. A love story grounded in reality, but also a fairy-tale paying homage to the Russian The Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) by Victor Vasnetsov and other works which retell the story.
Much of the promotion to the book touted it’s magical realism, but I didn’t find it and thought that folklore is more appropriate. It’s fantastical, yes, but also grounded in reality. The twinge of sadness makes this story excellent, but its part of what pushes both the characters and the story forward.
The weather plays a large part in the story and is parallel to the Jack and Mabel’s view of their future. There is foreshadowing on how the story will end, but we accompany Jack and Mabel, their personal journey realizing that the winter of their own lives will not last forever either.
An intelligent story, without being ostentatious, about the power of love, community, and that if we could work together through hardships, spring will come soon enough. The landscape of Alaska, the harshness and splendor, plays a significant role and is beautifully written.
Works which inspired this book:
The Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) by Victor Vasnetsov
The Snow Child by Freya Littledale and illustrated by Barabara Lavallee
Russian Lacquer, Legends and Fairy Tales by Lucy Maxym
Old Peter’s Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome
Synopsis:
Jacke and Mabel can barely make ends meet on their Alaskan farm in the 1920s. One snowy day, the childless couple whimsically sculpts a girl out of snow, with birch branches for arms, hay for hair, painted lips, and dresses her with a hat, mittens, and s scarf.
In the morning, the accessories are missing, and they find a young girl who lives in the woods. The girl, Faina (Fa-ee-na), appears and disappears at will, with a fox at her heels. The couple doesn’t know who she is, or if she’s even real as strange things happen in the long, dark, cold winters of Alaska.
Buy The Snow Child from Amazon.com*
More books by Eowyn Ivey*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I bought this book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
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