The Snow Child

Apr 28, 2012 Jeannette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fairy-tales-retold, adult-fiction, being-your-true-self, family-stories, 2012-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I’m a bit torn about how to rate this book. The first half held me spellbound. Was Faina real? Was she a fairy child? Would she return to Jack and Mabel every winter? And, then, just past the middle of the story, she becomes all too real -- or does she? This is the point, when she appears to Garrett and his family, where the story lost a bit of its charm for me. All through the first half I was kept in suspense about the mystery surrounding Faina and her effect on the lives and broken hearts of...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Nataliya rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reads

Once upon a time there lived a childless old couple...

This is not an uncommon beginning to folk tales, a simple introductory line which can (and in Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child does) condense into a few simple words the years of pain, sadness, and intense longing for something that nature refused to give despite desperate desire.

"Where else in life, Mabel wondered, could a woman love so openly and with such abandon?"

This is where I saw the strengths of The Snow Child - not in the imagery of Ala...more
Once upon a time there lived a childless old couple...

This is not an uncommon beginning to folk tales, a simple introductory line which can (and in Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child does) condense into a few simple words the years of pain, sadness, and intense longing for something that nature refused to give despite desperate desire.

"Where else in life, Mabel wondered, could a woman love so openly and with such abandon?"

This is where I saw the strengths of The Snow Child - not in the imagery of Alaskan wilderness through the prism of magical realism, not in the enigmatic nature of the titular snow child, but in the depiction of quiet, desperate sadness and alienation that plagues a deeply unhappy couple, torn apart by the weight of grief, struggling under the burden of their perceived failures.

"Was that why they had come north— to build a life? Or did fear drive her? Fear of the gray, not just in the strands of her hair and her wilting cheeks, but the gray that ran deeper, to the bone, so that she thought she might turn into a fine dust and simply sift away in the wind."

Jack and Mabel are an aging couple who left their old life and moved to Alaska seemingly to start a homestead but really to escape the weight of their loss that, turns out, they were not able to leave behind with their old lives. More than anything, Mabel desired to have a child, defining herself through the view of motherhood - but all she and Jack have is the memory of a tiny deformed stillborn, the one that Mabel hasn't even had a chance to say goodbye to as Jack (with the best intentions, sadly) quickly took it away for a silent nighttime burial.

Years later, neither Mabel nor Jack have overcome their grief and loneliness. Instead of reaching out to each other, instead of finding ways to cope they seem to have retreated deep into each own self, allowing tiny cracks to appear in their marriage, withdrawing behind invisible doors, isolating themselves from the world filled with life and children and constant reminders of their loss and (at least in their perception) failure. In this state of mind, leaving everything behind and trying to start a brand-new life in Alaska seemed like a promise of a new better life - or so Mabel had hoped.

"Mabel had known there would be silence. That was the point, after all. No infants cooing or wailing. No neighbor children playfully hollering down the lane. No pad of small feet on wooden stairs worn smooth by generations, or clackety-clack of toys along the kitchen floor. All those sounds of her failure and regret would be left behind, and in their place there would be silence."

But little has changed in the new place - the sadness that rules their lives, enveloped in silence and things-not-quite-said refused to be left behind. And here they are, in Alaska, still grieving, still drifting apart, Mabel suicidal in her depression, Jack preoccupied with simply trying to provide sustenance to his family, and things have never looked bleaker for the two of them.

"Was that why they had come north — to build a life? Or did fear drive her? Fear of the gray, not just in the strands of her hair and her wilting cheeks, but the gray that ran deeper, to the bone, so that she thought she might turn into a fine dust and simply sift away in the wind."

These parts of quiet desperation in which Jack and Mabel existed - because at this point it was mere existence and not quite life - were the parts that emotionally connected with me. There is that elusive *something* in the pervasive melancholy superimposed onto the landscape beautiful but cold and severe that touches the soul and pulls on the heartstrings, and even though you know that it's calculated to precisely do just that to your poor vulnerable heartstrings you cannot help but feeling for this miserable couple deeply and sincerely.

My heart ached for Mabel even though I cannot quite relate to her plight. But, unlike her, I can imagine a world where not having children can be a choice instead of a curse, where being a mother is not the sole expectation for a woman, where it is okay to admit to the lack of allure of maternity. For me, such a world is part of our reality. For Mabel, on the other hand, not having children has been out of question - and her not having them was merely unnatural in the America of the 1920s.

"If you said you didn’t have children, it sounded like a choice, and what kind of craziness would that be? If you said you couldn’t, the conversation turned awkward while they contemplated your manliness or your wife’s health."

And then, just as everything seems to be hopeless, the Snow Child appears - a strange and ethereal Faina, a little girl who appears on the night Jack and Mabel in a giddy trance make a snow sculpture in their yard, a child who only is seen in winter and seems one with the snow-covered stern world of Alaska. To Mabel, something about her reminds of a Russian children's story about a snow maiden that graced the lives of an old childless couple; and as far as Mabel remembers, the story does not have a happy ending.

Mabel's Snow Maiden is very familiar to any Russian child. Snegurochka, a tragic young maiden made of snow, doomed to demise by the fire/spring/love in the many versions of the fairytale (beautifully depicted by the famous painter Vasnetsov below), who through the last couple of centuries came to fill the role of the granddaughter of Father Frost, the ubiquitous presence at any kindergarten New Year's Day party, the inspiration for the many children's New Year's outfits (see baby Nataliya below as a very special snowflake/Snegurochka):

Faina, unfortunately, is the weak link in the melancholic fragile magic that is the sadness of this book. Is she real or fantastical? A snow child or an abandoned little girl? seems to be the question that plagues her adoptive parents; her vulnerable fragility masked by the exterior of strength and stubbornness is touching, indeed. But it's precisely this mysteriousness, further underscored by the quotation-mark-less dialogue every time Faina makes her appearance was what for me prevented the formation of any meaningful connection with her. Faina's appearances, right down to the 'what just happened here?' last one I found instead frustrating, jarring and interrupting the tone of the book.

Mabel's friend Esther, basically the embodiment of life energy that Mabel appears to lack, a breath of vitality in the slow melancholic existence. Unfortunately, this stark contrast again breaks the mood of this book that hinges on quiet sadness.

Overall, I found this book to be a lovely story, even if far from perfect. It's captivating in its own quiet way when it focuses on its strength - the fragile yet tender relationship between two aging lonely people in the cold and cruel but beautiful world. 3.5 stars and a respectful nod to Eowyn Ivey for a rather strong debut work.

"But he knelt at her feet, put his head in her lap, and they held each other and shared the sorrow of an old man and an old woman who have lost their only child."

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Jan 17, 2012 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

when i was about one hundred pages from the end of this book, i tugged on greg's sleeve at work, and said, "is this gonna end sad??"

and he refused to answer.

i think that was a good impulse.

because i almost don't wanna review this. this book was such a beautiful journey, and taking place as it does over a number of years, there are naturally high and low points, emotionally.

but i'm not going to tell you how it ends up.

i will tell you that i VERY NEARLY CRIED early on. like page 42-early.i misted...more

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May 22, 2012 Emily May rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tales, 2012

I put off reading The Snow Child because it wasn't something I would have chosen for myself without the extremely positive reviews of other goodreads members. If it is not obvious to you from the description alone, then this book is not mostly plot-driven. It's charm is upheld by the characters, the relationships, and the sad, cold mood that seems to permeate the entire novel from open to close. It is the kind of novel that I sometimes have trouble with, the kind not concerned with action or dr...more

I put off reading The Snow Child because it wasn't something I would have chosen for myself without the extremely positive reviews of other goodreads members. If it is not obvious to you from the description alone, then this book is not mostly plot-driven. It's charm is upheld by the characters, the relationships, and the sad, cold mood that seems to permeate the entire novel from open to close. It is the kind of novel that I sometimes have trouble with, the kind not concerned with action or drama, but more subdued and subtle. However, I was fortunate in that the characters held my attention throughout and the relationship between Mabel and Jack carried something simultaneously heart-warming and bittersweet that really spoke to me.

Mabel and Jack are an aging couple that have escaped from their previous reality into the Alaskan wilderness. They struggle to get by with Jack trying desperately to turn the old farm where they live into something that can support them through the harsh winters. But they are also struggling with something that runs much deeper: their childlessness and the memory of the stillborn baby that continues to drive them apart. I loved the relationship between the pair, the way they often felt distanced from one another but still relied on each other for support. It was heart-breaking to picture them sat at their table feeling the absence of a child and unable to discuss it.

There's something about this novel that is just plain sad. Even when nothing particularly sad seems to be happening. It's a tone that the story never shakes and perhaps it is something to do with the description of the freezing and isolated environment that made me feel like I should prepare to burst into tears at any second. I can't say for sure whether this book was supposed to be a lesson in how you cannot run away from your problems, or how bottling things up and shutting people out never works, but I can say that I took a little bit of all of this from the story.

Onto the snow child herself. It could have been an intentional move on the author's part, but I felt constantly distanced from her character; I felt perhaps she was a tool by which the main players' (Mabel and Jack) could be analysed and allowed to grow and develop. This is not so much a criticism as an observation. If you aren't aware of the basic plot outline, Mabel and Jack create a child out of the snow on a winter's night and discover the creation gone the next morning with a single trail of footsteps leading away from where it had stood. Then suddenly they start to spot a young girl roaming the woods, one who is identical to their snow sculpture and they see it as an opportunity to maybe finally have the child they always wanted.

I had been all set to give this book five stars, I really had. The writing is beautiful, the characters interesting, and the relationships touching... but the ending was disappointing. For me, it seemed like an unsatisfactory "is that it, then?" kind of ending that left me expecting some kind of twist from the epilogue that wasn't forthcoming. It wasn't enough to make me change my mind about the rest of the story and I would still highly recommend this book, but it was quite a large fault in an otherwise near-perfect novel.(less)

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Jan 29, 2012 Isamlq rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 2012-favorites

I loved…

…The back story, why they were in Alaska to begin with was heartbreaking. Know that it isn’t a quick story, rather it’s slow and filled with emotions that could be hard and then soft then funny then good. The story stretches over a pretty long period … and in this period, I saw how each of them grew with each other and grew accustomed to things.

…That it really was the fresh start she was looking for. And against this new backdrop, I saw how they got to know each other, the place and then...more I loved…

…The back story, why they were in Alaska to begin with was heartbreaking. Know that it isn’t a quick story, rather it’s slow and filled with emotions that could be hard and then soft then funny then good. The story stretches over a pretty long period … and in this period, I saw how each of them grew with each other and grew accustomed to things.

…That it really was the fresh start she was looking for. And against this new backdrop, I saw how they got to know each other, the place and then people. Questions of purpose: it’s likely one of the main things I grabbed me about Mabel. She was listless; but that Jack seemed nailed to what he thought one ought to be responsible for, limited both of them. But with circumstance calling for a change, she seemed “allowed” a bigger purpose. And with that was a change in her outlook and in how she felt. This shift practically jumped at me from the pages.

Prior to that, I was simply plodding along with her, curious to see what others would think of this woman, who I took to be odd at first. But she’s so much more than odd or pensive or thoughtful or whatever. I suppose what I’m trying to say is her mood affected my own. When she was listless, bored, sad… I felt it. The change in goings on, kicked things up a notch. I felt for her; I felt with her.

…What Jack was afraid of. There’s a point in this when he voices what he fears out: that he’d gone mad, that they’d both gone mad. And because of the same, nothing is admitted. It was odd and sad, how happy they could be for a short time then sadder still how their life seemed on pause without the girl in it. On pause. Their life, or at least the highs and lows of their feelings went on pause without her in the picture.

…The people. How they’re each all the other has. Take how Esther would tut-tut over what she saw as Mabel’s sadness. Yet despite the same, Esther was always there. And later, Garrett who starts out as this precocious boy standing apart from the rest knowing who he was, what he liked and what he wanted to be; later growing into this man proud in what he’s done and confident in his abilities.

…That ending, which still has me split. It’s happy and sad, but truthfully… expected. Ada’s letters of making one’s own endings makes me want to do the same. I’d have loved for all of them to have gotten what they wanted. It broke me heart a little.

It’s a beautifully told story.
Thanks NetGalley!

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Jan 03, 2013 knig rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Poor Eowyn Ivey. Well, not literally. This novel probably secures her pension annuity better than anyone else’s. Its Big (both novel, hence, pension). But if she is the woman I suspect she is, she’s likely twisting and turning at night over how she botched a masterpiece and brought a spectacular turn to heel.

Of course any reference to ‘masterpiece’ is biased. One man’s meat and another’s poison applies. But. There is something, something, about screwing around with childhood folklore, which guar...more Poor Eowyn Ivey. Well, not literally. This novel probably secures her pension annuity better than anyone else’s. Its Big (both novel, hence, pension). But if she is the woman I suspect she is, she’s likely twisting and turning at night over how she botched a masterpiece and brought a spectacular turn to heel.

Of course any reference to ‘masterpiece’ is biased. One man’s meat and another’s poison applies. But. There is something, something, about screwing around with childhood folklore, which guarantees instant and unconditional empathy. Inasmuch as we are all weaned on the magic of folktale generality, our first foray into making sense of the world, so that any return to it is so sacred an author needs only to wrestle failure out of guaranteed success.

Ivey falls captive to the tale of Snegurochka, and tries her hand. Already she is ahead of the game. Running a bookshop in Alaska, she is no stranger to snow, remoteness, isolation, and the magical synechdoche of man and nature. The woman has a toolkit you and I don’t: so bring it.

And she’s off to a stunning start. An elderly couple in Alaska. A snow maiden. Is she real? Is she a fayrie? A slow tease in exquisite narrative continuo layers realism with phantasia in a blancmange of unfettered expectation: I’m swept along in ephemeral tidings of crenulated reality: a splintering of dimension which rivets and furrows into logica long forgotten and discounted: a resurrection of belief and hope and wondering: a sense of wonder, a surreal wisp.
And then: Ivey reaches a stumbling block: I can picture her frantic tepishorean agony as she searches for a way forward, and....flounders. A half baked incoherent denouement where maiden thrives in heat but melts in cold: huh, huh? A cold mother, a listless entity? Come on, Ivey: what did you do to Snegurochka? Child abandonment? Really?

No.

Snegurochka abandons. But only those who are worthy.

Don’t muck with my childhood bread and butter. I really, really, don’t need a 21c Grimm. I’m grim enough as it is.
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Apr 03, 2013 Kristalia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, own-physical-copy, got-this-book-as-a-gift, reviewed

Final rating: ★★★★/★★★★★

“We never know what is going to happen, do we? Life is always throwing us this way and that. That’s where the adventure is. Not knowing where you’ll end up or how you’ll fare. It’s all a mystery, and when we say any different, we’re just lying to ourselves. Tell me, when have you felt most alive?”

I liked this book. It is nice, lovely, but it has only two flaws. It has reaaaaaaally long intro into the story and the pacing is slow. I didn't mind it though because in...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Dem rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, recommended

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is a wonderful fairytale for adults(and whoever fancies it) set against the harsh backdrop of 1920s Alaska. Sometimes a little of what you fancy does you good ! And so I fancied a fairytale and it did me the world of good!!!

This is the story of Jack and Mabel a childless couple who move to Alaska to farm and to etch a living from the harsh and frozen land. A man and woman set in their ways, Jack the stubborn sort who is too proud to ask for help and Mabel who fears f...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Annalisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: magical-realism, book-club, literary

I never would have read this book if it weren't my goodreads friends' glowing reviews. While the description didn't grab my attention, the intertwining literal and metaphorical interpretations were right up my alley. I'm glad I read the book, and I'm glad Ivey chose a lesser known fairy tale to bring to life. The lyrical writing was perfect for the fairy tale and magical realism aspects of the story; the untamed Alaskan frontier too. Reading it on this cold, dreary January, the winter setting re...more I never would have read this book if it weren't my goodreads friends' glowing reviews. While the description didn't grab my attention, the intertwining literal and metaphorical interpretations were right up my alley. I'm glad I read the book, and I'm glad Ivey chose a lesser known fairy tale to bring to life. The lyrical writing was perfect for the fairy tale and magical realism aspects of the story; the untamed Alaskan frontier too. Reading it on this cold, dreary January, the winter setting really came to life for me.

I felt for Jack and Mabel's encompassing loneliness and scarred grief, but I didn't connect with Faina at all. I'm not sure if that was intentional on Ivey's part, to make the snow child more mystical and unreachable, but it felt more like she didn't have time to develop her with her constantly running out the door whenever Jack or Mabel showed affection. All she could do was reiterate how much they felt for her to connect us to her, which rung a little false and forced for me.

The snow child's persona wasn't what was central to the story for me though (it was more about Jack and Mabel as parents). When the snow child entered the story, I wanted to know how her story would end, but more importantly, I wanted to know if Ivey intended us to interpret her mystically or realistically. I loved that the story alternated between the two and that as Jack and Mabel wavered between the two, so did I. Every time I leaned toward one or the other, Ivey reminded me of the evidence for the other. As the story progressed and my urgency to know which of the interpretations was right, what I really wanted was for Ivey to leave it open and let her readers decide.

As Faina grew, I was a little surprised by some of the plot turns (although I liked the metaphorical hint to them), but my qualms only intensified through the conclusion. The epilogue felt anti-climatic without giving me a chance for the ending to settle in. I had some confusion about the way--more accurately when--Ivey chose to end the story, but my biggest disappointment with it was that Ivey didn't leave the interpretation open. What was a solid 4 read, lessened to more of a 3.5, but to explain my nitpicking, I have to include some major spoilers.

(view spoiler)[At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about Faina's relationship with Garrett. It jarred a little bit with the mystical aspect of her personality, but I liked the interpretation that growing up, losing your virginity, becoming a parent, "melts" the fragile beauty of innocence. It epitomizes the spirit of the fairy tale. Upon further reflection, I think it worked nicely to give a magical realism feel to her literal interpretation and showed Faina battling both aspects of her persona.

I liked the foreshadowing of the fairy tale in the letters, and that with the multiple endings, I wasn't sure which interpretation Ivey would settle on. I liked that Ivey included the fox being killed (even if it didn't factor into why she "left"). I realized early on that she was going to use choosing mortal love in conjunction with staying too long into spring, but in the end it confused me. If the snow child would melt if she stayed through the summer, why would she wait until winter to melt? At that point, I thought she'd survived and finally balanced the mystical and literal aspects of herself to find her spot in the world, that she'd chosen mortal love and in the process would lose the mystical part of her character and that's where the loss would come in. With the fever and infection aspect, Ivey once again mixed both interpretations, which I liked, but in the end, she didn't leave it open, which I didn't.

In the beginning, I think Ivey relied a little heavily on the literal interpretation of Faina to counteract the reader's natural expectation of a mystical story. I liked that Ivey gave her a father and a history, but I wish she would have left the photographic evidence out to still leave it somewhat open. I could have excused away the father as a lie or another lonely soul the mystical child appeared to, but with the picture, I couldn't as easily. I was also disappointed when Esther and George saw the child. I had loved the hint that Faina had been borne out of Jack and Mabel's imagination and we the reader wondered about her existence.

In the end though, I think Ivey relied too heavily on the mystical interpretation. If Mabel had been unable to find Faina's nightgown, anything of hers, I could have held onto some hope, like Garrett, that Faina had wandered off into the forest because she couldn't hack being tied down to the literal part of her. But I felt like Ivey dismissed that option. Even through the summer, Mabel kept an eye on Faina, worried about her heating up too much, but she seemed to hold back, unsure of which interpretation to settle on. But when Faina disappeared, they didn't search for her. They knew she had melted because she was a mystical creature. I would have loved the option to wonder if Faina were off wandering the Alaskan landscape as the free spirit she was.

ETA: I had a conversation with my friend after she finished the book. Her interpretation is that it wasn't Garrett who loved her too much (or she loved too much) but her baby. I've been mulling that over all day and all that implies. I keep going back to the image of Mabel reaching for the cold child and her running away from the fear of the "warmth" of love. It brings the story back full circle to Faina having a child who loved her unconditionally, who she loved so much she couldn't ever adequately express it, and that "melted" her heart. It gives Ivey too options for the ending: one that love melts the snow child in Faina and she is left solely with her human form or the way she ended it with love melting her because she was a mystical creature and couldn't separate that part of her. I still think I would have liked a more open ending, but I love all that this interpretation implies and the metaphor of love it brings to the story. (hide spoiler)]

Ever since the site lost my review when I tried to save it, I've been apprehensive to rewrite it and miss a point I'd originally made, but having to go through my thoughts again and organize them into a cohesive review, what I had originally settled on as 3.5 stars has gone back to 4 stars. In fact, I'm even wondering if it deserves 5.(less)

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Dec 10, 2011 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, favorites, arc, uk-edition

It's truly gratifying to come across a book that evokes the senses to such a degree that its flavor is brought to the palate. Such is the case with Eowyn Ivey's debut novel, The Snow Child. Infused with aspects of pine boughs, mountain herbs, woolen mittens and inspired by happenstance, it breathes new life into an old Russian children's tale Ivey stumbled upon in her bookstore.

We come to know of aging Jack and Mabel through their childless sorrows, playful intense love and survivalist fortitude...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Teresa Lukey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: won-it, 2012-top-10, 5-stars, fiction, made-me-cry, made-me-feel-good, must-share-with-friends, my-absolute-fav-s, wow, beautiful, everybody-must-read, heartwarming

This is the story of Mabel and Jack, a childless couple who move to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920's in hope of finding a new life for themselves. Jack is in the fields all day and Mabel is left in the home to cook. They are lonely and trying to accept the way their life has turned out.

On the first snowfall, Jack and Mabel decided to build a snowman, which turns out to be a snow girl. In the morning they find the snow girl appears to have been destroyed, but Jack sees a young girl running t...more This is the story of Mabel and Jack, a childless couple who move to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920's in hope of finding a new life for themselves. Jack is in the fields all day and Mabel is left in the home to cook. They are lonely and trying to accept the way their life has turned out.

On the first snowfall, Jack and Mabel decided to build a snowman, which turns out to be a snow girl. In the morning they find the snow girl appears to have been destroyed, but Jack sees a young girl running through the forest. Eventually the girl, Faina, makes herself known to the couple and they are, both, overjoyed to have the girl in their lives and fearful of her spending her days in the cold, brutal Alaskan wilderness.

Faina lives high in the snowy hills and always travels with a red fox. She traps her own food and always wears a blue coat as well as the red mittens and scarf that were on the snow girl made by Jack and Mabel. Faina is easily scared off and has no desire to live with this couple who think of her as their own.

Jack and Mabel eventually come to terms with Faina's way of life and tell a couple of people about existence, but these people have never seen the girl and believe the couple suffers from cabin fever. Although Jack and Mabel do not see the girl on a regular basis, she brings a new livelihood and happiness to their marriage. Although, Mabel remembers a Russian fairy tale about a girl of the snow, who melts when the weather warms and she constantly frets that Faina is the same is going to melt.

As time moves along friends of Jack and Mabel meet Faina, but she is only around as long as there is snow. When the snow melts, Faina disappears. Jack suffers a back injury while working in the fields and their closest friends send their youngest son, Garrett, to help with the farm, until Jack is recovered. Garrett enjoys hunting, trapping and spending time in the wilderness and eventually comes across Faina, but does not immediately make his presence known.

Mabel believes the fox is an integral part of Faina's life and has asked Garrett to watch for this fox and make sure he does not kill it during a hunt. (view spoiler) From this point, the story was as fragile as a snowflake. I was so emotional and kept tearing up, for, like Mabel, I knew something was going to happen that I was not going to like.

In the end this story is absolutely beautiful and greatly sad. There is a magical feel to this story, coupled with the harsh reality of the Alaskan wilderness and is most definitely sure to please. I cannot imagine anyone not liking this story, I am getting emotional just thinking about it.(less)

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Mar 26, 2013 Kimberly B. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, favorites, fiction, own, 2013

I just finished The Snow Child and I'm a little bit in awe. It is incredible. It amazes me that this is Ivey's first novel, because her writing is breathtaking; she has a rare talent for writing beautiful, flowy paragraphs without being wordy or overly fluffy. The story is magical, mysterious, and moving. I was so entranced that I didn't want to stop reading. It seems that more and more authors these days write about subjects they've extensively researched; it's rare to find an author writing a...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Deyanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

This is a strange book...strange in the weaving of fairytale and reality. There are no bad people, no horror and not much action. The antagonist in the book is lonliness, secrecy, independence and even mystery. The appearance of the snow child leaves the reader guessing through two sections of the book whether or not the child is real or a magical fabrication from the pages of a Russian fairytale. This was intriguing. The ending for me was a little too "quick" and "easy". There are unanswered qu...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Jennifer D. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, first-books, 2013-books

man -- what a debut novel! it's a magical and sometimes heartbreaking story, perfectly set for a wonderful winter read.

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Dec 15, 2011 Wendy Darling rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Wendy Darling by: Stephanie

Shelves: own-dtb-tbr, historical-fiction, adult, gorgeous-prose, snowy, 2012-favorites, pioneer, mythic-and-fairy-tale-ish, to-review, read-2011, 2012-publication

4.5 shining stars Utterly, utterly gorgeous. Review to come.

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Nov 25, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a beautifully readable novel, with smooth-flowing prose which creates the sense of cold vividly - I wasn't surprised to see that the author lives in Alaska and knows the landscapes and weather she writes about. It's based on a fairy story I remember reading as a child, about a childless middle-aged/elderly couple who create a snow girl who comes to life. The struggling pioneer wife in this story, set in the 1920s, believes that this might just have happened in reality - but is the little...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Blair rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ghostly-and-magical, historical, 2012-release

Eowyn Ivey's debut The Snow Child is one of those zeitgeist books that seems to have a significant buzz about it right now. Whether this is because of great PR, reader word-of-mouth or simply that it's really that good, people seem to be talking about this book, and the burgeoning hype, along with the promise of an intriguing, magical story, grabbed my interest. When I spotted a special offer (fyi - use the code SNOWCHIL at Amazon UK to get the hardback for £5.99!), I was sold.

Beginning in 1920,...more Eowyn Ivey's debut The Snow Child is one of those zeitgeist books that seems to have a significant buzz about it right now. Whether this is because of great PR, reader word-of-mouth or simply that it's really that good, people seem to be talking about this book, and the burgeoning hype, along with the promise of an intriguing, magical story, grabbed my interest. When I spotted a special offer (fyi - use the code SNOWCHIL at Amazon UK to get the hardback for £5.99!), I was sold.

Beginning in 1920, this is the story of Mabel and Jack, who make the decision to move out to a homestead in Alaska relatively late in life, in their early fifties. After marrying late and suffering a stillbirth, they have never been able to have children, a source of great sorrow to Mabel in particular. The move to Alaska is meant to represent a new start, a peaceful, simple and traditional life together without interference from relatives or acquaintances. But there are problems: Jack is getting too old to work the land on his own, and is struggling to keep going; Mabel's repressed grief is magnified by her isolation; the Alaskan wilderness is lonely and unforgiving. One night, however, a fresh snowfall briefly reawakens their passion for life and each other, and they excitedly build a snow girl, even giving her a hat and mittens. The next morning, the snow girl is gone, seemingly destroyed by a wild animal - but there are tiny footprints in the snow, and Jack thinks he glimpses a child running through the forest.

The story is based on a traditional Russian tale, 'Snegurochka' (the snow maiden), and Ivey's commitment to retaining the fairytale feel really shows. This is a fully fleshed-out and detailed story, spanning a number of years and featuring a complete cast of characters - Mabel and Jack's neighbours and later friends, the Benson family, have a significant role to play in what happens - yet it never loses that sense of the otherworldly. The essence of Alaska's harsh beauty is communicated wonderfully, so that you understand how the characters can both love and hate their environment, but at the same time there's always a hint of something ethereal. Is Faina, the child who becomes so precious to the couple, actually a magical being, or is there some rational explanation for her sudden appearance and apparently nomadic life in the forest? Outside the story, the idea of a snow child coming to life sounds silly, but the narrative manages to balance (often brutal) reality with suggestions of fantasy, making the plot believable even as it keeps you guessing about Faina's true origins.

The biggest problem with The Snow Child was that despite enjoying the book, I didn't get emotionally involved or feel particularly moved: tears never even pricked my eyes, even though this is technically a very emotive story. Lots of other reviewers have fallen in love with this book, but as much as I think it is largely worth the hype, this just didn't happen for me. Also, I wasn't keen on the way every part of the story suggested a person's life is incomplete unless they have children. Yes, I know this is the whole idea the plot rests on, and it wouldn't really work properly without it, and it's set in more traditional times, in a part of the world where having a family was one of the only things you could hope to successfully achieve and was arguably necessary for survival... But nevertheless, I couldn't help being a bit turned off by this implication. Finally, this book contains a lot more descriptions of hunting, killing, gutting (etc) animals than you would ever guess from the whimsical title and plot. These didn't put me off reading, but I could have done without them, to be honest.

That aside, this is an enchanting story and definitely a very impressive debut. I often find first novels 'stumble' in places, but, apart from a jarring 'off of' within the first few pages, the narrative flows beautifully and the style feels very assured. The blurb describes it as an 'instant classic' and while I wouldn't quite go that far, it does have a timeless quality that I'm sure will give it enduring appeal. It will be interesting to see what Ivey does next: as an Alaskan native, it's no real surprise she has captured the setting so evocatively, but her tender depiction of the protagonists' relationship suggests this is more than a one-hit wonder. A lovely diversion from reality, and an author to keep an eye on in the future. (less)

19 likes · like · see review

Jan 05, 2013 Leslie Kent marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: i-gave-up-for-now

5/12- I'm having a hard time getting into this. It is written with some elegance and I have the feeling the author desperately wants me to connect with these characters. But I don't. May become abandoned book. Will give it 50 more pages because the reviews were pretty good. As one of my goals is to be able to say, "It's ok to not finish a book," we will see...Updates to come. 5/17-I see all the good reviews but this book just wasn't for me or maybe I wasn't in the right mood. The writing was lov...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jul 22, 2012 Linda Robinson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Amazing talent, beautifully delivered. This is a five sense book, and maybe a sixth and seventh as well. I could hear a bull moose snorting, swan screaming, snow crunching, river ice cracking. I could taste moose meat for the thirtieth and 100th time; smell wet wool and blood, birch fire and moonshine. I could touch the two-man saw, feel the weight of an ax, and the tiny threads of intricate embroidery. And always, always the snow and the earth beneath. I could see rows and rows of crops growing...more

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Apr 11, 2012 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Inspired by a Russian fairy tale that is braided into the narrative, Ivey's debut novel is a rustic, atmospheric novel that combines reality with myth, and fabled whimsy with austerity. I treasure cold-weather settings in literature with abundant ice and snow, and this Alaskan frontier farm locale engages with a spartan but stirring ambiance. Set in 1920, the central characters are Mabel and Jack, a childless couple in their late forties whose only shot at parenthood ended in a stillborn child t...more Inspired by a Russian fairy tale that is braided into the narrative, Ivey's debut novel is a rustic, atmospheric novel that combines reality with myth, and fabled whimsy with austerity. I treasure cold-weather settings in literature with abundant ice and snow, and this Alaskan frontier farm locale engages with a spartan but stirring ambiance. Set in 1920, the central characters are Mabel and Jack, a childless couple in their late forties whose only shot at parenthood ended in a stillborn child ten years ago.

The couple are stoic and resigned; a melancholy impassiveness distinguishes their relationship and colors their days. They moved from the Allegheny River Valley to this outpost in order to solidify their emotional solitude into a physical one. However, Mabel is even more depressed, and Jack is like a bridge of sighs. Until...

One day, Jack and Mabel have a playful moment in the midst of a snowstorm. They throw snowballs at each other and build a snowgirl. Overnight, the snowstorm obscures the snow child, concealing the details, and a live girl has darted out of the dark spruce woods wearing the mittens and scarf that adorned their creation. Is she real? A figment of their imagination? Did they create her out of desire and grief, and make her genuine?

On the cusp of the little girl's appearance, George and Esther Benson and their three boisterous boys enter Mabel and Jack's quiet, lonely orbit. Esther takes an immediate liking to Mabel, and inveigles her out of her reticent shell, while George's help on the farm encourages Jack. Their lives open up, and Esther's frank, guileless composure inspires Mabel's confidence. The novel's elegiac tone is laced with an enchanting buoyancy and clemency. On the periphery, still, lurks the little snow child, whose impact will be magical and palpable.

The prose is flawless and natural, suffused with the remote beauty and polar clarity of the region. Ivey's ability to layer the ice and snow with exquisite, somber symmetry will give you a warm chill as you hear the fire crackling on a frosty winter's night. The white dusting of flakes fall with a hush through the bitter cold, and subsides to a thicket of green during the spring melt. Lynx, fox, wolverines, moose, rabbits, and more, scurry through the hinterland, dotting the landscape with fur and wildness. The glacial, glistening allure of Alaska and the graceful alacrity of the snow child will thaw even hard and icy hearts.(less)

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Apr 06, 2013 Dolors rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone looking for a light reading

Shelves: read-in-2013

Once upon a time there was a childless couple who decided to start a new life in the faraway Alaska, where the wild land was always covered in white and pure snow. On a playful evening, they decided to make a snow child and put their willing hearts in it, shaping it as a girl. And the fairies of the magic mountains decided they were worthy of getting what they most coveted: a daughter of flesh and bone. So when they woke up the following day, they found the snow maiden gone and their luck change...more Once upon a time there was a childless couple who decided to start a new life in the faraway Alaska, where the wild land was always covered in white and pure snow. On a playful evening, they decided to make a snow child and put their willing hearts in it, shaping it as a girl. And the fairies of the magic mountains decided they were worthy of getting what they most coveted: a daughter of flesh and bone. So when they woke up the following day, they found the snow maiden gone and their luck changed when a pale, blond-almost-white blue eyed and silent little girl appeared at their barn.
A miracle? Only if you believe in magic.

Once upon a time there was a childless couple who lived haunted by the baby they lost many years ago, so they decided to leave everything behind and start afresh in the remotest of lands, where they wouldn't hear the laughter of children playing in the streets or receive news of another newborn. But they hadn't anticipated the harsh conditions of the wilderness, the endless winters, how the ruthless cold, which tore at their skins, could also shatter what was left of their broken hearts. Until one day, in an act of utter despair, husband and wife buried their hands together in the snow and built a snow child, and when they were about to surrender to the brutality of the mountains, a little savage girl appeared out of nowhere and entered their lives for the better or for the worse.
A tragedy? Only if you don't have imagination.

Two possible stories. Choose the one that most suits you.
Fanciful or feral. Chasing ethereal fairies or taming a wild child.
I see what the writer was trying to do with this novel and I appreciate it, in essence. In a way, you have a family saga in an exotic setting (Alaska in the 1920s?), but you also have fantasy, mystery and tradition in the form of a fable, easy to engulf you and to keep you hungry enough to swallow chapter after chapter eager to find out which is the right answer: a fairy tale? or a realistic drama with touches of a Gothic mystery?
Disturbingly beautiful images come to my mind: a delicate girl surrounded by white snow while droplets of dense and intense red blood are dripping from her prey, recently hunted.
Frailty and fierceness. I value this shocking contrast which is deliberately present throughout the book along with the way each character has a voice of its own, which allows the reader to see the different sides of the story and therefore, to reach his own conclusions.

My own conclusion is precisely the reason why I can't give this novel more than 3 stars. Because what will probably stay with me about this book is its aesthetics instead of its message which was, for me, disappointingly conventional and mundane.
Still, this story has given me the chance to reflect on how life can often be more fantastic and terrible than the stories we believed as children, and that perhaps there is no harm in finding magic among the trees. And only for that, The Snow Child deserves all my respect.(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Jun 18, 2012 Dan W rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Understated and overwhelming, Ivey takes you into the heart of isolation and travels with you through years of discovery and magic and sorrow and joy. A middle-aged couple seek retreat from life in an Alaskan homestead only to be visited by a strange little girl. Through years of desperation struggling to prosper against the beautiful ferocity of Alaskan wilderness the mysterious girl changes the lives of these two homesteaders.

Sublime and touching, this is an incredible read and quite an achie...more

10 likes · like · see review

Apr 30, 2012 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I want so badly to give this book 5 stars. The first half of the book I loved, loved, loved. I could feel the Alaskan winter. I had to resist the urge to put on my snow boots and gloves. Wonderful and aching descriptions of the pioneer life. Mabel and Jack are the type of characters that will stay with me for a long time. The loneliness, hard work, desperation. The spunky neighbor Esther was great! And the snow child -- ahh, she was magical, mysterious, part superhero and part helpless orphan. I...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Cynthia Kuenzi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am in love with and haunted by this story; the feeling I used to get when as a child I read Brothers Grimm fairy tales. The landscape of 1920s Alaska is a dark, foreboding yet beautiful landscape. A place for only the bravest of children, as are the forests of Europe in the stories I grew-up with. It is a fantastical yarn but somehow I believed characters such as this really exist.

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2012 Brie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This book is beautiful!

It is a story that is a fairy tale/folk story updated that doesn't really firmly state it is. It hints that the snow child may be of another world, supernatural in nature, but it doesn't say she is. You are left to decide if Faina is really a snow child like in the stories that Mabel reads or if she is not. That she comes to Mabel and Jack, an older couple who are devastated they were not able to have kids, every winter helps add to this mythology.

Yet the book is not so m...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Alyssa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, kindle, own-kindle-book

The writing was simply, achingly perfect.

Here are some of my comments from a discussion I had with my online kindle friends:

I really enjoyed the style of writing. Somehow she brought the characters' loneliness and heartache to life with her simple and somewhat stark narrative. I think the passages flowed beautifully and I was easily carried away. I loved the book.

Mable was reserved, capable, and sad. I identified with her the most. Esther was lively and lived in the moment (as much as you can...more The writing was simply, achingly perfect.

Here are some of my comments from a discussion I had with my online kindle friends:

I really enjoyed the style of writing. Somehow she brought the characters' loneliness and heartache to life with her simple and somewhat stark narrative. I think the passages flowed beautifully and I was easily carried away. I loved the book.

Mable was reserved, capable, and sad. I identified with her the most. Esther was lively and lived in the moment (as much as you can in the Alaskan wilderness). She was compassionate and I would love to have her as a friend. It touched me that she tried to believe Mable. Faina was elusive and cold. She was a juxtaposition of purity and experience. Of all the characters, I felt most removed from her, but I think that was the intention of the author. I loved the husband. He was bordering on being too perfect, but had just enough flaws to make him human.

I think what I liked about Mable is she knew who she was. She knew she wasn't like Esther and she didn't doubt she deserved loved. She was just dealt a bad hand and life did not initially give her something she wanted. She didn't whine, but internalized it. If she had spoken to Jack more, perhaps she would have been happier through that time. She was skilled as a homemaker and an artist and was not scared of trying something new, but she liked to keep the familiar close by.

I think the magic was necessary. I think the presence of doubt in our daily lives was echoed in the feelings of doubt each character had when it came to Faina. In the same vein, it was the faith that life continues, no matter what happens, whether you love too much or lose someone or kill a fox, life continues. The magical element was a way to draw out each character's approach to fate.

Favorite passages:
"Dear, sweet Mabel," she said, "We never know what is going to happen, do we? Life is always throwing us this way and that. That's where the adventure is. Not knowing where you'll end up or how you'll fare. It's all a mystery, and when we say any different, we're just lying to ourselves. Tell me, when have you felt most alive?"

"I wish to be the mother you are to me, she said so softly Mabel doubted her own ears. But those were the words she spoke, and Mabel took them into her heart and held them there forever."

"when speaking of motherhood she asked "where else in life could a woman love so openly and with such abandon"? and i heard myself answer, no where else. Moms are expected to constatnly touch their child lovingly, when they don't, we wonder about her, did she not bond with her child?"

"It was even in the way sunlight shattered against the February snow so Mabel had to squint at the brightness."(less)

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Jan 07, 2013 Fran Murphy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tales

This is a beautifully written book on the nature of love, longing and loss. Based on a Russian Fairy Tale about a couple whose yearning for a child of their own is so strong that they create a girl from snow, it is as delicate as a snowflake and as powerful as an avalanche.

The beauty and wonder of the Alaskan wilderness plays a huge part in the novel, as families struggle to tame a tiny part of Nature in order to survive. Everything is a race against time: the field must be planted and harvested...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 11, 2012 Traci rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads, favorites

I'm not sure that I can do justice to this book any more than other readers.

Everything about The Snow Child is perfect. From the charming cover design, to the excellent timing of the release date, to the magical prose that so beautifully meshes reality and fairy tale. It's so difficult to find this trifecta these days, but it's a treat for the reader when it happens.

I have to be honest and say that parts of this book were very difficult for me. I had to put it down fairly often in the first few...more

17 likes · like · see review

Mar 17, 2013 Booklover, Indianapolis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1-and-2-star-books, chat-n-chapters, non-romance, read-in-2013

(Mar) I was surprised to find this on my "to be read" shelf - I'm not sure what made me think I wanted to read this. I'm curious to know what the rest of my bookclub thought of this. To me, it was a whole lotta boring. It was way longer than it needed to be considering nothing happened - a lot of description of trapping and hunting and sewing and cooking and eating, but I never felt like I really knew any of the characters. I thought the book took place about 40 years earlier than it did, and la...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 21, 2012 Lormac rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: permanent-library

One of my book clubbers visits a little local library where one of the members is apparently involved in the publishing industry because there are always a bunch of pre-publication advance copies of books on the "For Free" table. My friend always scarfs them up since, no matter what the book, someone at the book club will most likely want to read it (a free book!).

Anyway, that's is how "The Snow Child" came into my hands. Total and complete serendipity. Never heard anything about it - I just gra...more

5 likes · like · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
NW Gals Book Club: May 19 Meeting: Alison's Choice - The Show Chld by Eowyn Ivey	7	11	May 16, 2013 05:51pm
Children's Books: Buddy Read invite for The Snow Child (informal)	5	18	May 15, 2013 01:32pm
join our informal buddy read	1	14	May 13, 2013 08:02am
Into the Forest: Snow Child- Spoilers	22	68	Apr 26, 2013 11:12am
Faina's Childhood	24	350	Apr 25, 2013 09:38am
Write Reads Podcast: Write Reads Episode #6 is now available!	1	4	Apr 08, 2013 12:51pm

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