Eowyn Ivey's "The Snow Child"

This is an amazing modern adaption of the fairy-tale by the same name, or, alternatively, Snegurochka in Russian. The original tale is referenced frequently throughout the story, which actually serves as a prophecy to foreshadow the entire plot, to some extent. I won't spoil the ending, but not everything is as it seems throughout the story.

Jack and Mabel represent the childless couple. Mabel contemplates death and suicide while out in the forest, feeling helpless as she no longer has much to life, while Jack works every day, and they struggle to say afoot. Their marriage seems to be dwindling, and they almost seem to be holding on just because there is little else out there.

One night they rekindle their love, and happen to also build a little snow girl, who they give a hat and mittens. After this, they start to see a little girl, as light as snow herself, running through the woods, donning the clothes they left out in the snow.

Both Mabel and Jack change their stance throughout the story of whether or not this is a little girl formed from snow, or a real little girl, lost from a local village somewhere. Getting to snow the girl, and inviting her into their home, doesn't really change their answer for the majority of the story.

Meanwhile, for a lot of the story, Mabel is convinced that their little girl is really a snow child. She sends home to her sister for her original copy of the book, and is careful to try and appease the forces in the real world that caused the snow child harm in the book (such as the fox, or the fire).

It is wonderfully beautiful, and you begin to wonder whether or not the world displayed in this book is that of reality as we know it, or one of absolute magic and fairy-tale. The ending is left open to your interpretation, but will most likely further displace your idea of "The Snow Child"s world.

My problems with the book are subjective, not to mention quite shallow: I don't get why human life is so revered, while animals are hunted sometimes meaninglessly in comparison for fur and meat. This is a small and nitpicky problem with a great book, and doesn't detract too much from the story.

There is a little trailer for the book here, and to further immerse yourself in the world of "The Snow Maiden", you can listen to Tchaikovsky's incidental music here. This book is only short, and can be polished off on a cold, indulgent reading day.