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The Snow Child
Eowyn Ivey
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| Classification |
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General & Literary Fiction |
| Pub Date |
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Aug 10, 2012 |
| Imprint |
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Headline Review |
| Page Extent |
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448 |
| Binding |
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PB |
| ISBN |
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9780755380534 |
| Price |
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 395 |
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| About the book |
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A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska.
Jack and Mabel have staked everything on making a fresh start for themselves in a homestead 'at the world's edge' in the raw Alaskan wilderness. But as the days grow shorter, Jack is losing his battle to clear the land, and Mabel can no longer contain her grief for the baby she lost many years before.
The evening the first snow falls, their mood unaccountably changes. In a moment of tenderness, the pair are surprised to find themselves building a snowman - or rather a snow girl - together. The next morning, all trace of her has disappeared, and Jack can't quite shake the notion that he glimpsed a small figure - a child? - running through the spruce trees in the dawn light. And how to explain the little but very human tracks Mabel finds at the edge of their property?
Written with the clarity and vividness of the Russian fairytale from which it takes its inspiration, The Snow Child is an instant classic - the story of a couple who take a child into their hearts, all the while knowing they can never truly call her their own.
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| Read Review |
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| "enchanting tale of love, hope and survival in the frozen North" |
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| "It is an exceptional book that deserves to melt millions of hearts" |
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| "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." |
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| "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" |
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| "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." |
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| "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" |
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| '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' |
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| a stunning debut novel' |
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| 'an original and magical debut' |
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| 'A mystical tale of heartbreak and hope' |
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| 'a magical, heartbreaking story... gorgeous' |
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| 'An enchanting tale of isolation, hope and love' |
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| 'If Willa Cather and Gabriel Garcia Marquez had collaborated on a book, THE SNOW CHILD would be it' |
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| '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' |
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| Eowyn Ivey |
| Named after a character from J.R.R. Tolkien`s The Lord of the Rings, Eowyn Ivey currently works at an independent bookstore in Palmer, Alaska. Before that, she was a reporter and editor for t...(+) |
| Books by Eowyn Ivey |
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