There is something of the fairytale and myth about Eowyn Ivey’s books which I am innately drawn to and The Snow Child encapsulates this feeling of the magic and the mysterious unknowns in the world around us to great effect, with Jack and Mabel’s life in the Alaskan wilderness. Ivey teeters just this side of the credible to craft a story of longing, hardship, friendship, loss and magic.
Mabel and Jack long for a child but it seems like it is just not meant to be. Then, one magical night of snowy playfulness results in their lives changing radically with the arrival of a girl the next day, and the subsequent mystery surrounding her origins dominates the couple’s lives and the book.
There is so much to like about this novel. Mabel and Jack are a couple who love each other deeply but, in the throes of loss, have lost their way a little, although the bones of their relationship together prove to be strong. The depiction of their life in Alaska shows the hardship and hard work that is required to endure in that unforgiving landscape and it also gives Ivey a chance to show the strength one can draw from community that is needed to survive – it is difficult to be totally independent in this environment and the friendship of the Bensons sustains Mabel and Jack when they need it most, growing into the norm as time goes by. Faina, in contrast, seems to be someone who is comfortable in this wilderness world although even she seeks out companionship; whether out of curiosity or need, we are unsure.
Links to a traditional fairytale provide superstition and doubt throughout the book – is Faina real or magical? – and questions about Faina’s realness and the fragility of her existence not only cause tension in the narrative for the reader but also sympathy for the characters, Mabel especially as she tentatively holds on to what she has always wanted – a child.
The story is moving, well-written with the Alaskan wilderness at the forefront throughout – I loved it but I found To the Bright Edge of the World touched me much more deeply. It is, in my opinion, a better book than The Snow Child with further development of the same themes but with a greater intensity that I liked more.
But this book, still a great read.
Scuffed Granny 