The Snow Child is a retelling of the Russian fairy tale Snegurochka, or The Snow Maiden. It was Eowyn Ivey’s first novel and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction and an international bestseller. Today, we present our honest book review of The Snow Child.
About The Book
Title: The Snow Child
Author: Eowyn Ivey
Genre: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fairy Tales
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Date of publication: February 1, 2012
Pages: 324
Goodreads rating: 4/5
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart—he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm, she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone—but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place, things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.
The Snow Child Book Review
Imagine a tale wrapped in the melancholy and beauty of a snowy Alaskan winter. That’s the vibe here—kind of like the song evermore by Taylor Swift. II love books set in winter, whether they’re happy or sad, but this one leans more towards the sad side.
The story centres around Mabel and Jack, a couple living a pretty bleak and isolated life. The way Ivey describes their emotional struggles is so rich and vivid, it makes you feel everything they do. Their lives are tough, and you see it from both of their perspectives, which adds depth to their story. They’re both suffering quietly, barely talking to each other. It’s a reminder that life doesn’t always go as planned.
Mabel looked up and saw his windburned hands and frayed cuffs, the crow’s feet that spread at the corners of his downturned eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she had touched that skin, and the thought ached like loneliness in her chest. Then she spotted a few strands of silver in his reddish-brown beard. When had they appeared? So he, too, was graying. Each of them fading away without the other’s notice.
Eowyn Ivey, The Snow Child
The world-building is just stunning. Alaska’s wilderness and winters are described so beautifully, you almost feel like you’re there. Ivey paints a vivid picture of the harsh yet enchanting landscape.
The characters of Mabel and Jack are beautifully crafted. Mabel is quiet and imaginative, and she quickly figures out that Faina, the snow child, is something special. Jack is calm and hardworking, and he seems to understand Faina better at first. It’s interesting to see how they both approach her differently but with the same amount of love and care.
I love the maturity of Mabel and Jack. They’re wise, understanding, and sometimes even playful. Their relationship might lack open communication, but it’s built on a deep, unspoken love. They feel so real, like an elderly couple facing struggles but still holding on to each other.
“I am sorry, Mabel. I don’t know what else to do.” He flexed his hand, felt the tendons give and take, and wondered how he could again and again disappoint her.
“You think I blame you?” she said.
“Nobody else to. It’s on my shoulders.”
“How is it that you always arrive at that conclusion? That everything is your fault and yours alone? Wasn’t it my idea to come here? Didn’t I want this homestead, and all the hard work and failure that would come with it? If anything, I’m to blame, because I’ve done so little to help.”
Jack still looked at his hands.
“Don’t you see? This was to be ours together, the successes and the failures.”
The Bensons were the cherry on the cake. They added light-heartedness to the otherwise sad storyline of Jack and Mabel. They connected the couple to reality and friendship and were a great addition to the story.
Faina, the snow child, is a fascinating character. She’s mysterious, shy, and lovable. The question of whether she’s human or magical is left up to us. Additionally, Faina acts as a healthy catalyst for Jack and Mabel’s relationship. Her presence energises the couple, and she acts as their lucky charm. But most importantly, they learn to cope with child loss through her—something they struggled with their entire lives.
She wept until there was nothing left in her, and she wiped her face with the tips of her fingers and sat in the chair, expecting Jack to go out the door and leave her alone. 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.
Concluding, I found myself slacking off at times, mostly because I’m more into fast-paced books. However, I enjoyed reading it primarily because of the engaging characters, their emotions, and the snowy backdrop. Overall, it’s a bittersweet, thoughtful read that I highly recommend.
Conclusion
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love literary fiction, folktales, and emotional stories with a touch of magic, this one’s for you!
About the Author
Ivey was a newspaper reporter at the Frontiersman in Wasilla for a decade before quitting her job to work as a bookseller in order to focus on writing novels. Ivey’s first novel, The Snow Child, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction and an international bestseller. Her newest novel, To the Bright Edge of the World, was released on August 2, 2016. She has also written essays which have appeared in various publications. Eowyn was raised in Alaska and continues to live there with her husband and two daughters.
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