Book Review: The Snow Child

The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey

I had gotten good feedback on this novel from social media, so I decided to check it out!

Jack and Mabel are a couple nearing their fifties when they decide to leave their home in the Eastern U.S. and take a homestead in wilderness Alaska in 1920.  They were never able to have children, and they believe this might be the fresh start that they need.  But the work is brutal, and life there is isolating, and their marriage is crumbling under the strain. 

When the first snow arrives, they decide to take a few minutes for fun, and they build a snowman.  Jack carves a beautiful child’s face in the snow, and Mabel dresses the snow child with a red scarf and gloves for a child they never had.  In the morning, the snow child is gone, and so are the scarf and gloves.  But soon, they see fleeting glimpses of a real child, a toehead blonde running through the forest with her red fox friend.  And she is wearing a red scarf and gloves.  Is this their snowman come to life?

Over time, they gain her trust, and come to see Faina as their daughter, however eccentric she is.  She refuses to settle down and live with them, instead preferring to continuing living in the woods, trapping and gathering berries.  But she visits often, accepts their kindness, and returns love to them when they need it the most.  Her existence is an enigma, as it seems impossible that this young girl could survive the harsh wilderness of Alaska.  That is, if she really is a girl.

Of course, it isn’t just a story of a strange child wandering the woods, but instead it is a story of grief, and healing from loss, of hope, of tenacity, of friendship, and of what is important in life.  Life is hard, and there are no guarantees, and we must make of it what we will, just as Jack and Mabel are trying to do. 

Eowyn Ivey’s novel draws upon a Russian folktale, and it blurs the lines of realism.  The reader is left to their own devices to figure out what is real, what is fantasy, and what may be the madness caused by cabin fever.  At times beautiful and joyful, at times heartbreaking and raw, she draws the reader expertly into the story, and leaves you curious until the very end.

5 stars.