Kathryn Ferrier Human Resources Manager

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The Snow Child

Among the all time favorites is the classic fairy tale with large quantities of snow - the evil snow queen, the forbidden ice palace, the old couple who made a little girl out of snow. That said, I was curious about The Snow Child because of 1) the snow aspect, naturally, and 2) the idea of a fairy tale for grown ups, as this book has been described. But sometimes you just need a good fairy tale, so I ventured into this story set in Alaska, 1920s, about a not so young couple homesteading far from Pennsylvania academia as their way of escaping a shared but unspoken sorrow. Author Eowyn Ivey deftly describes the couple's attempt to make a new beginning against the will of a wild and unfamiliar landscape, creating a mythical tale filled with the fierce beauty of the far north, and characters that are touching and memorable. Although the plot meanders into predictability at times, it's a page turner, and remnants of the Russian folk tale about a little snow girl who comes to life are woven throughout the story, suspending the fine line between what we know to be true and what we wish to be true.