The Snow Child

I read The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey for book club. The book description says, "Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart—he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone—but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them."

This book was so good! It took me awhile to start reading, but once I did, I was hooked and anxious to keep reading and see how the book would conclude. The writing was beautiful, and I loved the realness of the characters. I felt the pain of Jack and Mabel, loved Esther and her confidence and decisiveness, and was enchanted by Faina. I wasn't sure if I was going to be happy with the end of the book, but somehow the author made it beautiful even when things weren't all good. It was a great January read, especially since we had book club the day before a big snowstorm hits. :) The book lended itself to some great book club discussion. I'm really glad I read this one.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)