Eowyn Ivey

Two thirds supernatural story and mystery and one third quotidian romance set in early twentieth century rural Alaska equals two thirds excellent magical realist novel and one third mediocrity.

Jack and Mabel have just picked up from their Pennsylvania home and taken on a homestead in Alaska. Married late (for the time) in their thirties, they suffered a stillborn child and now in their late forties, childless, they are fleeing from their mostly silent grief and unfulfilled dreams of a family. They are great characters and their sometimes difficult yet always tender relationship is wonderfully developed.

On the night of the first big snow of the winter season, as they are struggling mightily to carve out a foothold in the Alaskan wilderness and their ability to make a go of it is in deep doubt, they make a snowgirl in a moment of levity. The next morning it has been destroyed, the mittens and scarf they placed on it gone, and they begin to see a child running among the trees and sometimes coming to their cabin. Naturally, she is wearing the mittens and scarf.

Here we learn that this story has been based on a Russian folk tale in which an old childless couple makes a girl out of the snow, who then comes to life as the daughter they never had. The story does not end well, the girl eventually melting away/tragically disappearing, either due to getting too warm or falling in mortal love.

Is this what has happened to Jack and Mabel? Mabel believes so. Jack meanwhile learns of another tragic possibility. Which one does the author ultimately intend? She'll keep you guessing. Thus far it is a brilliant novel: great characters, a great well sketched setting the author is intimately familiar with (being a native Alaskan), and an intriguing magically tinged story.

To follow the outlines of the fairy tale, something has to befall the girl. Having her melt at a campfire probably wouldn't work, so Ivey takes the reasonable path of having the girl grow into her late teens and fall in love. Unfortunately for me this is where the novel lost a lot of its charm and magic and became somewhat dreary. Her love interest is a boring character, and the lovestruck teenage girl comes off worse on the written page than a mysterious snow pixie child.

But all in all, still a really good read.… (mer)