the snow child.

 
I first heard about this book when a friend who works for Chronicle Books in San Francisco mentioned that Ivey was on a list of up-and-coming authors to keep an eye out for. When I had the opportunity to purchase some books online with a gift card, I was intrigued by the mysticism behind The Snow Child's synopsis.

Jack and Mabel live in the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920's. They are in their late forties/early fifties and have never had children (Mabel had a miscarriage years earlier and it scarred the both of them). One night, after years of solemnity and melancholy, they have a fun night playing in the snow and end up making a snow child, donned with red gloves and a knit hat. The next morning, there is nothing left at the site except for a trail of footprints that seem to have run off with the gloves and hat.

Afterwards, Jack and Mabel start to spot a young, blonde girl dashing around the woods, followed by a spry red fox. The girl is extremely shy and does not come near them, but tends to leave them gifts of berries and meat. They eventually get the girl to come inside and join them for dinner, where they learn her name is Faina.

This book is hardly plot-driven - the majority of the pages are centered on beautiful descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness and deep-rooted explanations of Jack and Mabel's individual emotional despairs. As a result, it is a slow read and there were several times when I wanted to put it down but I was too intrigued by the mystery around Faina - was she real or was she a figment of their imagination, built out of Jack and Mabel's desperation for company and for a child?

Toward the end of the book, she becomes all the more real - Jack and Mabel's only friends finally meet Faina after years of thinking that she was just a story, and Faina even eventually falls in love and marries another character in the book. I actually disliked this; I felt that the whole story was not about Faina, but Mabel and Jack. To suddenly give more meaning and attention to Faina just toward the end of book felt offsetting.

The ending is somewhat predictable for no other reason than because of the book that Mabel owns in which The Snow Child is a fairytale that she grew up with. The ending is slow and unshocking and as a result, when you turn the last page, you can't help but wonder what you got out of the story.

I will say this: it's beautifully written. It is haunting and emotional and somewhat chilling. It is a slow read, though, and takes some commitment to get through. That said, no regrets.