The Snow Child (2012 original; edició 2012)

There are a few things I liked very much about this book. Then, there are a few things that I disliked very much about this book.

First, what I liked:

I too live in an area of the world – rural Alberta, Canada – where winter defines the landscape and the people in it. I think the author did a superb job of capturing it, and also the loneliness and despair that must have been present in the lives of the women who first homestead this land. The failed suicide attempt crossing the frozen river is truly the highlight of this book in my opinion.

I also liked the portrait of aging and how it affects a loving relationship, although the author seems to shy away at showing any true sexuality between Mabel and Jack.

What I did not like:

It was predictable and unbelievable. Oh, it was a fairy tale, some say. Well, it did not truly convince me. At the end I felt that this book was written with a YA audience as target, and had it been marketed as such, I would be more forgiven of it.

It does puzzle me that it was a Pulitzer nominee. I must have missed something essential in it.

But 3 stars it is, as at the end it was entertaining.
( )

What a lovely, quiet sense of place. It was magical. ( )

This is a simple story inspired by a famous Russian fairy tale. In its narrative complications abound and the the story grow more and more complex as it encompasses multiple story lines. Changes abound in this novel, as one might expect in a story inspired by older long lasting part imaginative literature; one that has inspired operas, ballets, films, and other similar tales.

At the opening we meet Mabel and Jack, a childless couple who have moved to the wilds of Alaska to start farming. The work and the weather is brutal, but they are committed not just to surviving, but to succeeding. Early on we are told by the narrator:

“All her life she had believed in something more, in the mystery that shape-shifted at the edge of her senses. It was the flutter of moth wings on glass and the promise of river nymphs in the dappled creek beds. It was the smell of oak trees on the summer evening she fell in love, and the way dawn threw itself across the cow pond and turned the water to light.”(p 5)

Mabel's dreams seem to come true when a young girl appears the day after they had built a child out of snow. The young girl is elusive with a feral, yet magical appearance. They barely survive the first winter and, as they prepare to plant a crop of potatoes for the following year, Jack is injured by his horse when it is startled by a bear. Fortunately, their neighbors Esther, George, with their youngest son Garrett help them to get their crop planted. The story continues to follow the intrigue between the snow girl and the travails of Mabel and Jack along with young Garrett who continues to work with them on their farm.

The broad outlines of the story do not begin to capture the beautiful magic of the growing relationship between the snow girl, whose name is Faina, and Mabel and Jack. Each is transformed over the course of the narrative, while at the same time the neighbor's young son is growing into manhood. These stories blend together in a way that is unpredictable (at least for this reader) while the families grow together growing to understand and love the nature that surrounds them. The harshness, especially the cold winters, is made palpable by the precise and simple prose of the author.

The Snow Child blends this rough reality with the magic of the fairy tale presence of the snow girl to produce an unusual and wonderful book. The reader experiences something like the following:
"It was as if Mabel had fallen through a hole into another world . . . This was an untidy place, but welcoming and full of laughter."(p 31)
There is also sadness and ultimately the satisfaction of lives that incorporate some of the magic of believing as they deal with the reality of a harsh but beautiful world. ( )

Set in the 1920s in rural Alaska, this is the story of a childless couple, Jack and Mabel, who yearned for a child, but lost their stillborn baby. One magical day, a little girl appeared wearing the mittens and scarf with which they had decorated their snowman. Her name is Faina and she appears to them many times, but always disappears back into the snow-covered forest from which she came. Their nearest neighbors, the Bensons, doubt that Faina is nothing more than a figment of their desire to have a child until they discover that she is real. This is a novel of friendship and love, inspired by a Russian fairy tale. The characters are so likeable that I was able to suspend disbelief to believe in the magic of this story. ( )

Jack and Mabel always expected to have a large family. But the years passed and they had only one stillborn child. Mabel’s broken heart can’t tolerate being around her siblings and their large families any longer so she and Jack decide to move to Alaska.

But life is still hard in Alaska, especially during the long, dark winters. When the first snowstorm of the season arrives, Jack and Mabel playfully build a snow girl, complete with coat, mittens, and a sweet smile. Imagine their astonishment when they find that the snow girl has vanished overnight and small footprints lead away into the woods.

I enjoyed this but as a woman who has chosen not to have children, I don’t think it speaks to me the same way it speaks to mothers or those who long to hold little ones in their arms. But even I found Mabel and Jack’s plight heartbreaking and rushed to find out exactly what was going on with the little snow girl. Was she magic? Was she an orphan who coincidentally found the childless couple on the night they built a snow girl?

“We never know what is going to happen, do we? Life is is always throwing us this way and that. That’s where the adventure is. Not knowing where you’ll end up or how you’ll fare. It’s all a mystery, and when we say any different, we’re just lying to ourselves. Tell me, when have you felt most alive?”

The combination of the harsh frontier life, the magic of the snow girl (was it magic?), and the vivid descriptions of the beautiful Alaskan scenery kept me turning pages.

There are a few scenes that might be triggers for some readers, as noted in the details above. I otherwise recommend it for readers who are looking for a touch of magic in a long, cold winter. ( )