The Snow Child - Hardcover

Eowyn Ivey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0755380525 ISBN 13: 9780755380527

Publisher: Headline, 2012

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2012: In her haunting, evocative debut Eowyn Ivey stakes her claim on a Russian fairy tale, daring the reader--and the characters--to be lulled into thinking they know the ending. But, as with the Alaskan wilderness, there’s far more here than meets the eye. On the surface it’s the story of a childless pioneer couple running from their East Coast lives and struggling to survive in the harshest of climates while also attempting to reconnect with each other; but it’s also the story of the spring of hope that bubbles out of new friendships, of the slow realization of love for a surrogate child, of the ties between man and nature. Ivey spares no words in describing the beauty and the danger of her native Alaska, bringing the sheer magnitude of the wilderness alive on every page. With the transparent prose of a fairy tale and descriptions to put nature writing to shame, The Snow Child immerses readers in a 1920s Alaska that will draw them back again and again. -- Malissa Kent

About the Author

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 the Frontiersman newspaper and won a number of awards, including Best Non-Daily Columnist from the Alaska Press Club. Several of her short stories have been published in the anthology, Cold Flashes, and the literary journal, Cirque. Eowyn lives in Alaska with her husband and two daughters. The Snow Child is her debut novel

Edition details

• Publisher: Headline
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0755380525
• ISBN 13: 9780755380527
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 423