On a cold winter night, a childless couple, enchanted by the falling snowflakes, builds a beautiful girl of snow. In the morning they find the snow child gone but are soon visited by a real girl, one at home in the wild forest who disappears when the weather warms. The Russian and Scandinavian fairy tale of the snow child is magical and ultimately sorrowful. First-time novelist Eowyn Ivey has rewritten the story, keeping the magic and sorrow but adding a hard edge of realism and just enough hope. THE SNOW CHILD is a stunning novel about love and loss and the meaning of family.

"Ivey's captivating style is somehow both lush and concise. She has managed to craft a novel true to its fairy tale source, but shot through with a contemporary sense of bleak reality only occasionally getting bogged down in sentimentality."

Mabel and Jack have recently moved to Alaska to farm during the 1920s homesteading boom. They leave behind friends, family, the comforts of home, and the painful memories of their baby who died many years ago. The desolation and beauty of Alaska is overwhelming, the work is more than difficult, and at first Mabel and Jack only have each other for company. But when the first snow of their second winter falls, just like in the old Russian fairy tale Mabel's father used to tell her, they somehow bring a snow child to life. In a rare moment of carefree joy, Mabel and Jack find themselves outside building a snow child. They dress her in their own scarves and mittens, but the next day she’s gone.

Soon thereafter a real girl, usually shadowed by a red fox, starts coming out of the woods and onto their farm. Both Mabel and Jack long for the girl, worry about her and dream of taking care of her. Soon enough, the girl, Faina, becomes a part of their lives. Though she lives outdoors, seemingly part of the Alaska wilderness, she visits them often, bringing gifts, the greatest of which is her love for the couple. Faina is the long-sought remedy to the quiet sadness that has saturated Mabel and Jack's life; she is what all the distance from home, the hard work, the solitude, and even a suicide attempt could not bring. Years go by, and Faina grows into a beautiful and mysterious young woman who continues to bring happiness to the couple. But when she meets Garrett, a young man Mabel and Jack have also grown close to over the years, the precarious and strange relationship may be in danger --- and so may be Faina's very existence.

THE SNOW CHILD is at once an ethereal and magical tale of longing and love, and a brutal story about grief and survival. Ivey is smart enough to keep Faina enigmatic. Is she an orphan left to fend for herself, the personification of Alaska's nature, or truly the creation of Mabel and Jack? In any case, her story is haunting and compelling. Both Mabel and Jack are interesting characters as well, richly imagined and nicely written. Mabel is especially emotionally taut, and her interior feelings are often heavy and heartbreaking. Ivey's captivating style is somehow both lush and concise. She has managed to craft a novel true to its fairy tale source, but shot through with a contemporary sense of bleak reality only occasionally getting bogged down in sentimentality.

Though the narrative is not always as tight as it could be and some readers may want more definitive answers, THE SNOW CHILD is well worth a read, especially in these last chilly days of winter.