The Snow Child

Local Description

This haunting story is set in the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1900’s. Times are bleak for the pioneers of this isolated outpost. Despair has almost consumed childless couple Jack and Mabel until they discover that a snow child (a girl) that they build one evening seems to magically become real – yet is still elusive. There is much that is unsettling in this novel – the characters, their past, their predicament, the fairy tale that Mabel reads and the child herself. I found it a beautiful novel to read, despite these things because ultimately the language, setting and story combine to form a celebration of hope. ->ANNA

Description

A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska, Eowyn Ivey's THE SNOW CHILD was a top ten bestseller in hardback and paperback, and went on to be a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Alaska, the 1920s. Jack and Mabel have staked everything on a fresh start in a remote homestead, but the wilderness is a stark place, and Mabel is haunted by the baby she lost many years before. When a little girl appears mysteriously on their land, each is filled with wonder, but also foreboding: is she what she seems, and can they find room in their hearts for her? Written with the clarity and vividness of the Russian fairy tale from which it takes its inspiration, The Snow Child is an instant classic.

Reviews

'This book is real magic, shot through from cover to cover with the cold, wild beauty of the Alaskan frontier. Eowyn Ivey writes with all the captivating delicacy of the snowfalls she so beautifully describes' -- Ali Shaw, author of The Girl With Glass Feet 'If Willa Cather and Gabriel Garcia Marquez had collaborated on a book, THE SNOW CHILD would be it' -- Robert Goolrick, author of A Reliable Wife 'An enchanting tale of isolation, hope and love' -- Woman and Home 'a magical, heartbreaking story... gorgeous' -- Marie Claire 'A mystical tale of heartbreak and hope' -- InStyle 'an original and magical debut' -- Good Housekeeping 'a stunning debut novel' -- Reader's Digest 'It's beautifully written, imaginative and the story expresses real human emotions of love and loss... I think this could be one to win lots of prizes this year' -- Essentials Magazine "Ivey grew up in Alaska, and still lives there with her family, and it's the harsh beauty of the landscape that gives this stunning first novel its unique shape and atmosphere" -- The Times "what sets Ivey's brand of magicial realism apart if her ability to convey, in prose as crystalline as a snowflake, the wildness of the frozen land and the privations suffered by settlers trying to make their lives there. Her Alaskan landscape is a place of such extreme beauty and cruelty that the fairy tale its heart is only one of the spells it casts." -- Metro "it is the magic and not the realism that will sell a million copies of this book... calls to mind another debut The Time Traveller's Wife, whose readership this book aims (rightly and deservedly) to captivate" -- The Spectator "Taking its genesis from an old Russian fairy tale, the author fleshes out her story of emotional and geographical desolation and of enduring suffering and loss, with a terrific combination of toughness and delicacy." -- Sunday Times "It is an exceptional book that deserves to melt millions of hearts" -- Sunday Express "enchanting tale of love, hope and survival in the frozen North" -- Daily Mail