As I have been lucky enought to visit Alaska, it is always a joy to find a book which is set in this wild and majestic part of the world. And, quite by chance, I have read two books this month set in this very place, and the author of ‘The Snow Child’, Eowyn Ivey, is a proud Alaskan which makes this book even more magical to me.
Now, I have to admit that this beautiful book had passed me by until it was selected as the December read of ‘The Book Taster Book Club’ and, to begin with, I was not entirely sure that this would be a book that I would traditionally choose to read (based on initial impressions – or as most of us call it, the cover). However, I would have missed an absolute treat if I had let that impression overtake me, because this book is an absolute treat.
This is a book that you have to savour; this is not a book that can be rushed. This book is inspired by ‘The Snow Girl’, a Russian folk tale, but is a magnificent story in its own right. We meet Jack and Mabel, as they are begining their new life on an Alaskan homestead; they are haunted by a tragedy from their past, but they are determined to make a success of their new life and the new opportunities that are promised to them in Alaska.
One evening, they meet Faina, the beautiful and mysterious young girl who seems to only appear when it snows and disappear as the new life comes with spring. We follow these characters over a number of years, and see how special Faina becomes to Jack and Mabel, and the magic that she brings to not just their lives but those of their closest friends in their new world. And, when you read the final page, you know that this book and its characters will stay with you for life – and that you will want to share them with as many other readers as possible.
There is also so much in this book that is left to the reader’s imagination, and that always makes for a read that becomes an interesting and fascinating one. There is also the mystery of Faina having no speech marks when she has dialogue with anyone in the book. Now, lack of speech marks is not being commented on, because it is something that bothers me, but it is clearly to serve a purpose in this book, and we had quite the conversation at book club as to what that purpose may be.
If you are looking for a magical winter read, then this is a book that I will forever recommend – in fact, since finishing it, I have realised that I love it even more than I thought I did, as I was reading it because it is so beautifully written, the characters are all lovely, and the atmosphere and sense of place within Alaska in the 1920s is stunningly created for the readers. This is a book that, despite being set somewhere remote and difficult to live in, makes you want to be there and experience it alongside the characters; in fact, you probably want to sit down with the characters and have a chat.
So, again, I have to thank ‘The Book Taster’ for bringing another brilliant author to my attention and more books to my tbr pile. Because I know would love to read anything written by Eowyn Ivey, and I am very excited for her new book inspired by ‘Beauty and the Beast’.