The Snow Child in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jan 24, 2013 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: based-on-a-folk-tale, lotsa-buzz, literary-schmiterary, fiction, historical-fiction, new-fairy-tale, wintery-snowy

She could see, now that she had been shown...

A magical tale full of hardship, snow, and cranberries. (Maybe I noticed the cranberries more than most people. There were a lot of cranberries.) This was completely captivating, but at the same time I found myself easily distracted.

I read this in mid-April. But it snowed just a few days ago, enough to cover the grass. Enough to build a snowman. But we didn't; I don't remember the last time I made a snow sculpture.

This was such a gorgeous and gut-

She could see, now that she had been shown...

A magical tale full of hardship, snow, and cranberries. (Maybe I noticed the cranberries more than most people. There were a lot of cranberries.) This was completely captivating, but at the same time I found myself easily distracted.

I read this in mid-April. But it snowed just a few days ago, enough to cover the grass. Enough to build a snowman. But we didn't; I don't remember the last time I made a snow sculpture.

This was such a gorgeous and gut-rending book. I was immersed even while I was distracted, and I felt pretty gutted when I finished. I felt certain scenes deeply, I was there in the bleakness and the beauty.

Just as startling was the fox. It sat beside Faina with its silken red tail curled around its feet and its ears pricked forward. Something in its predatory eyes and thin black mouth told of a thousand small deaths, and Mabel could not forget its muzzle smeared with blood.

And this scene, which I found particularly poignant and ethereally lovely:

She could see, now that she had been shown. The sun had disappeared behind them, and the girl pointed across the valley to the mountain slopes aglow in a cool purple-pink. Silhouetted against the sky, tendrils of snow unfurled from the peaks, whipped by what must have been a brutal wind. Here on the rise, though, the air was still. The colors were distant, impossible, untouchable.

That’s what my name means, Faina said, still pointing.

Mountain?

No. That light. Papa named me for the color on the snow when the sun turns.

Alpenglow, Mabel whispered.

She felt the awe of walking into a cathedral, the sense that she was being shown something powerful and intimate, and in its presence must speak softly, if at all. She stared into that color, trying to imagine a father who could name his child for such beauty and then abandon her.

We should go, Faina said. It will be night soon.

The child led Mabel back to the homestead, to the warm cabin where Jack waited with hot tea and bread he had baked in a Dutch oven.

So, he said. What did you see?

I understood Mabel and Jack. But there was still a lot I didn't understand. I have questions:
What does the fox symbolize? (view spoiler)
What does the moose symbolize? (view spoiler)
What does the wolverine symbolize? Is that the cruel and heartless spirit of Nature?
What does the swan symbolize? (view spoiler)
And my number one question!! Why are there no quotation marks used for all dialogue involving Faina????. (view spoiler)

Lots of questions. But this is not a book that rewards questions; there may be hidden meanings, but they will remain hidden, the way the junco remains hidden under the boughs of my fir tree. The book follows its own advice:

He had said too much, but not as much as he could have.

This book never tells us as much as it could. This is as close as we get to an answer:

“We have tried to convince her to stay with us, but she refuses. She says the wilderness is her home, and I’ve gone with her there, and it’s true. It is her home. She walks on top of the snow. And I know it seems unbelievable, Esther, but she can hold a snowflake in the palm of her hand without it melting. Don’t you see? She was reborn that night… reborn out of snow and suffering and love.”

This is NOT a plot-driven novel, and I am one of those people who really needs a plot (which may be why I found myself easily distracted at times), so I'm really surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did. The characters Ms Ivey created are wonderful

Esther burst into the cabin like a friendly hen, flapping and chattering and nearly knocking Mabel over as she tried to open the door for her. In one hand she held a towel-covered cast-iron pot and with the other she hugged Mabel and kissed her on the cheek.

and the beauty of the Alaskan landscape comes through so clearly in each scene that you might as well just call Alaska another character in this book.

This November day, the river otter did not keep her waiting. She heard ice splinter, a splash, and then he was just the other side of the small creek. She expected him to dash across a log or run humpbacked down the bank as he always did. Instead he paused at the water’s edge, turned toward her, and stood up on his hind legs. He was remarkably still, supported by his thick tail, his front paws dangling at his chest. For longer than Mabel could hold her breath, the otter stared at her with his eyes like deep eddies. And then he dropped to all fours and scampered down the creek.

Farewell, old man, until we meet again.

She had no way to know its age or gender, but there was something in the light-colored chin and long, coarse whiskers that reminded her of an old man’s beard. From a distance the otter gave a comical, mischievous impression, but when it slithered close Mabel could smell fish blood and a wet chill.

She told no one of the otter. Garrett would want to trap it; Faina would ask her to draw it. She refused to confine it by any means because, in some strange way, she knew it was her heart. Living, twisting muscle beneath bristly damp fur. Breaking through thin ice, splashing in cold creek water, sliding belly-down across snow. Joyful, though it should have known better.

Stories based on fairy tales always have a natural depth and darkness that other stories don't have, and it is this added depth and sense of almost touching magic that is probably what kept me captivated even when there wasn't much of a plot to carry me along.

*

I don't like reviews that review other reviews, but I have to add this: I've seen a few reviews saying "why wasn't this tagged YA?" and I'm mystified as to why anyone would see this as YA. Are all fairy tales automatically YA? Does the absence of sex and violence immediately mean a book is YA? I don't know. What I just read is a very mature book that I can't imagine has a lot of appeal for teenagers. The pace is slow, the two main characters are middle-aged, the themes are mature themes: the notions of loss and loneliness, living beyond loss, looking back on a life after it's lived, and so on. Sure teens deal with loss and loneliness too, but not this kind. As a woman of a certain age myself, these themes resonated with me. As you age, the highs and lows are rounded, things are slower, deeper, you look back on your life and evaluate the chances you took and the chances you didn't take. It really comes home to you that you play out the hand you've been dealt and you won't be getting another. Frankly, I'm surprised that such a young debut author can write middle-age so convincingly!!

This quote sums it up:

In my old age, I see that life itself is often more fantastic and terrible than the stories we believed as children, and that perhaps there is no harm in finding magic among the trees.

I think the overall message here is that Mabel was selected for Grace bestowed from Mother Nature, not because she was special but because she was willing.

I've decided to use this book to fill the "based on a fairy tale" prompt in the 2016 Popsugar Ultimate Reading Challenge. ...more

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Dec 18, 2016 Melissa rated it really liked it

I read this novel for my book club. I had never heard of it prior to now, but the premise sounded intriguing. It was well-written with an element of mystery. Both Mabel and Jack were sympathetic characters and I cared for their well-being. The descriptions made the story come to life (I even felt cold from the way the snow was written), although some felt a bit overwhelming and tended to slow the story down a bit. The dialogue and narrative made up for it. It will be interesting to discuss with ...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Elizabeth Hull-Morales rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: readandowned, re-reading

This has been my umpteenth reread of this novel, and I still love it as much as I did the first time I picked it up!

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Sep 22, 2012 Rae rated it it was amazing

Shelves: other-fiction, 2012

An older childless couple build a snow child on their Alaska homestead and magical things occur.

The Snow Child was, for me, a brilliant read. I loved every word of this beautiful take on a traditional fairy tale. The frontier cold is as much a character as Jack and Mable, who I loved as the protagonists. Plot turns that would have been obvious in more action-driven narratives slowly snuck up on me in this one.

An enchanting read that grabbed me right from the beginning. Recommended to those who l ...more

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