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The Snow Child [Kindle Edition]

Eowyn Ivey (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,168 customer reviews)
Print List Price: £8.99
Kindle Price: £3.99 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £5.00 (56%)
* Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

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Kindle Edition £3.99   -- --
Hardcover, Large Print £19.42   -- --
Paperback £6.29   -- --
Audio, Cassette, Audiobook, Unabridged --   -- --
Audio Download, Unabridged £13.10 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial
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Product Description

Review

'A magical, heartbreaking story... gorgeous'
Marie Claire

'Ivey grew up in Alaska, and still lives there with her family, and it's the harsh beauty of the landscape that gives this stunning first novel its unique shape and atmosphere’
The Times

‘it is the magic and not the realism that will sell a million copies of this book... calls to mind another debut The Time Traveller's Wife, whose readership this book aims (rightly and deservedly) to captivate’
The Spectator

"It is an exceptional book that deserves to melt millions of hearts"
Sunday Express

Book Description

A magical novel with a distinctly grown-up sensibility, THE SNOW CHILD will appeal to fans of imaginative reading group fiction, such as THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, THE LOVELY BONES and THE BOOK THIEF

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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 543 KB
  • Print Length: 434 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0755380525
  • Publisher: Review (1 Feb 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0755380533
  • ISBN-13: 978-0755380534
  • ASIN: B006YIA9NA
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray:
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,168 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,368 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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› Visit Amazon's Eowyn Ivey Page
Eowyn Ivey
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
256 of 265 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Magical (but probably not for everyone) 10 Feb 2012
By Curiosity Killed The Bookworm TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Mabel and Jack cannot have children. They move to Alaska to start a new life, one without the pressures of polite society. However it is not easy, the farm work is hard for her husband and money is tight. They struggle to survive the dark, cold winters and start to move apart. One night, as the snow falls, Mabel is overcome by a childish urge to make a snowman, no, a snow child. She gives it mittens and a hat and Jack carves a beautiful face in the ice. The next morning, the snow child is gone, but there is a trail of small footsteps leading into the woods.

The Snow Child is a retelling of a Russian fairy tale, Snegurochka, Little Daughter of the Snow. Moved to the wild and isolated Alaskan frontier in the twenties, it beautifully describes the land, the snow and the hardships of making a living there. It does have a timeless feel to it, although mod-cons such as internet, air travel and daylight lamps have made living there much easier now, you get the sense that not a huge amount has changed.

It still retains the feeling of a fairy tale though, perhaps this will not be to everyone's tastes but I loved it. It is not fast paced, and it did seem to slow a little in the middle, if you tire easily of descriptions of snowy winter wonderlands and characters doing little but farming or hunting wild animals, you may struggle. The writing carried me through and I must admit to being fond of snow - we don't get enough of the proper stuff here. The snow is so central to the book, it brings playfulness and beauty but also danger and cold.

The speech between the snow child and the other characters is lacking in quotation marks which added to the doubt of her existence or realness. Read more ›
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78 of 81 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking and Mesmerizing 18 Feb 2012
By V. Gregory
Format:Hardcover
My husband gave me this book for Valentines Day.

I picked up the book and didn't put it down for 5 hours. It was 3am when I decided to stop reading it.

A middle-aged couple with no living children, move to Alaska to start a new life after a stillbirth, there they encounter the Snow Child. A child who lies somewhere between reality and fantasy and the story tells the tale of joy and worry she brings to their lives.

It beautifully written, astoundingly emotional and some of the themes at least are close to home. I recently suffered the loss of my only child, and the deep desire to have a family is so difficult when suffering from infertility. I feel the emotions expressed in this book are so honest and so true to what I feel, that I spent half the night in tears. Unless you have been in that situation, losing a baby and having infertility, you can never understand that NEED, that yearning desire to have a family, the only thing missing from life, the ever traumatic memory of your child that died.

I feel the harsh reality of their lives in Alaska, represents the harshness of a life without the one thing they obviously want so much - children, and she brings help and happiness in more than one way, making their lives better in so many ways.

This haunting tale will stay with me a long time.
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121 of 127 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding 29 Nov 2011
By Lovely Treez TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine Review (What's this?)
With a nod to Russian folklore, Eowyn Ivey's debut novel is truly a thing of beauty. In the 1920s, middle-aged couple, Mabel and Jack, up sticks and move to Alaska, hoping to flee the heartbreaking memories of their still-born child. How can this vast, bleak landscape possibly fill their empty hearts? Hope comes with the appearance of Faina, a quasi-feral child who brings equal amounts of joy and sadness into their once barren lives as she flutters in and out of their home.

The writing is so evocative and atmospheric, it's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. We see the crisp beauty of the wild Alaskan landscape which can be equally cruel and bountiful. We see real folk trying to carve out a decent living against all the odds, clinging onto the slightest glimmer of hope.

Eowyn Ivey has spun a spellbinding, haunting story, skilfully blending fantasy and reality. Throw another log on the fire (virtual or real!) and be transported to the Alaskan wilderness through this captivating tale.
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97 of 103 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars I prefer more pace and action. 24 May 2012
By Laura
Format:Hardcover
This is a difficult book to review as it's simply not the kind of book which I would usually be enthusiastic about. You might wonder why I picked it as my Audible download of the month, in that case, right? Well, the blurb intrigued me and the cover enchanted me. I had hopes of a haunting narrative, evocative of old, dark fairy tales. What I got was something different.

Ivey creates a phenomenally beautiful sense of place and it is evident that she is intimately familiar with the Alaskan wilderness she describes. The detail given to the surroundings was definitely my favourite aspect of the story. However, I felt that the characters weren't nearly as vivid. I have a suspicion that Ivey did this deliberately as the lack of colour given to either Jack or Mabel was indicative of their ailing relationship.

Jack and Mabel move to Alaska to start anew and to escape their old, childless life. But the move isn't the cure they had hoped it would be. Instead their lives have grown dismal and silent. It is only when the little girl, Faina, enters their lives that things begin to look up.

This is one of those books which is going to get four or five stars from a whole bunch of reviewers. It's beautifully written... but in my opinion, it was also slow. Actually, it goes further than that; I think it was dull.

Very little happens for about seventy percent of the novel, and when things do happen they happen slowly. Until the very end. The last few chapters of the book felt rushed and desperate to me, as though Ivey just wanted to be done with it. She added a third point of view, she skipped about six years in a leap, she seemed to forget all about the themes of hope and grief surrounding Jack and Mabel. Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply lovely.
This is a charming story that really captured my imagination and my heart. Life, love, hardship and a little magic set against a brutal landscape.
Published 1 day ago by Fiona McArdle
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
I really liked this story. Its completely different to the books I usually read, but I liked the synopsis so I gave it a shot. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Ms. Stacey Mckean
5.0 out of 5 stars Snowchild .
A beautifully written story, portraying the reality and harshness of losing a child, mixed with the pleasures and gifts that children bring.
Published 4 days ago by Neil Kernon
4.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious.
A sense of mystery, sadness, and love. Beautifully written with a huge respect for nature and the wonders of life.
Published 5 days ago by Robcuthbert
4.0 out of 5 stars an enchanting fairy tale for grown-ups
The Snow Child is beautiful, haunting & evocative. It leaves you with more questions than answers, it is a beautiful fireside read.
Published 6 days ago by fionaholly
3.0 out of 5 stars Pygmalion/Sniegorochka
I would prefer the story to be more of the fantasy,at the moment it is somewhere in the grey zone.
Published 6 days ago by jadwiga
4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely
What a beautiful story, it depicts the character's feelings so well you feel like you know them. Didn't want to lose Faina though that was a heart wrecker! Read more
Published 7 days ago by Leona Taylor
4.0 out of 5 stars Scence of mystery
I liked the surreal feeling throughout. I liked the ending, as if the story was going to continue.I can imagine the isolated conditions of the folks in the story made them look at... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Susanah Black
5.0 out of 5 stars A lighthearted book of pure fiction.
A book to be read when you are not looking for reality.
However, the portrayal of the icey wilderness and the folk who carve their living out of it is thought provoking.
Published 9 days ago by diane
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
This book is fantastic, set in a beautiful winter wonderland the story touches your heart. I couldn't put this down once i started it, definetely would recommend.
Published 9 days ago by Reader
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Popular Highlights

 (What's this?)
"e;
‘We never know what is going to happen, do we? Life 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?’ "e;
Highlighted by 7 Kindle users
"e;
We are allowed to do that, are we not Mabel? To invent our own endings and choose joy over "e;
Highlighted by 3 Kindle users

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