SEPTEMBER BOOK REVIEW
ARTFUL READERS CLUB
September 27, 2013
Happy Fall, dear readers. It's the season for those gorgeous autumn colors...and the first fall book review. This month, I'm reviewing Eowyn Ivey's THE SNOW CHILD...(out of season...sorry :) ) for Darcy's ART and SOLE ARTFUL READERS CLUB.
Based on a traditional fairy tale called "The Snow Maiden," Ivey's first novel is magical and captivating. Set in 1920's Alaska, the book tells of a middle-aged couple, Jack and Mabel, who left their city home, family, friends and memories of a stillborn child to pursue a new life in wild isolation. The author's portrayal of an untamed Alaska is so beautifully detailed that you can feel the snowflakes on your eyelashes...the chill of the darkness!! The story has the intricate fragility of those snowflakes, the natural honesty of the packed snow beneath your feet and the unnerving quality of a nighttime dream. It fascinates as it touches the heart.
Alaska is not all Jack and Mabel imagined and from the start, we sense that they're having a hard time making a go of it. But everything changes the night of the first snowfall, when the couple gives in to a childish whim to build a snowman...actually, a beautiful snow girl. They give her red mittens and a red scarf...both of which vanish with the morning light. Slightly melted, all that's left behind are fresh child-sized footprints in the snow and a flash of red on a child running through the woods.
Gradually, Faina, a winsome blonde child with a wild fox for a friend, emerges from the woods to befriend the childless couple. Is she indeed a "snow fairy" or a wild child who knows better than anyone how to survive in the rugged north country? Is she a figment of Jack and Mabel's imaginations?
I loved how the author made the child as much a mystery for the reader as for the main characters. As Faina's identity grows clearer (though never completely defined,) the narrative also becomes a more realistic portrait of the Alaskan wilderness and a study of the hard work involved in building a family and a home there. With enough vivid detail about hunting and farming, it's a very believable painting. Too, as a portrait of a marriage, THE SNOW CHILD is exceptional. The love between Jack and Mabel, how it waxes and wanes over time, how they work together to survive the harsh climate and how they make friends with their nearest neighbors...all adds extra warmth and wit to the story.
Even as Faina embodies a natural order that can't be tamed, George and Esther (and their family)...the nearest neighbors... show Jack and Mabel (and the reader) just how important "community" is for survival.
THE SNOW CHILD is a beautiful story of survival and hope...magical yet very real. I loved this book and highly recommend it!
