Fairy-tale beginning
New author melds reality with magic
FRANCE FREEMAN
By Stephanie E. Ponder
From there the story “crystallized quickly” and she
had a rough draft done within a year. Before that,
she’d spent five years working on a different novel.
“It was a much quicker process, which helped
me feel it was the right project,” she says.
In the novel, Jack and Mabel have set out to
forge a new life in Alaska in the 1920s. It’s hard
work, and there’s little joy for the
childless couple. After building a
snow child, they awake the next
morning to find that it’s crumbled—
and they then catch a glimpse of a
young girl in the woods. They forge a
loving but unconventional relation-
ship with the girl, named Faina.
“I’m a very practical-minded
person,” states Ivey. “I don’t believe in
magic in the real world, but I wish
that it were true.”
In the novel she blends the prac-
tical with a feeling of enchantment as each spring
and summer Jack and Mabel push themselves as
they work the less-than-accommodating land.
Then winter arrives, and Faina appears with each
first snowfall, only to disappear in the spring.
Much like Jack and Mabel, readers are left questioning whether Faina is real. But don’t look to Ivey
for answers.
IN HER DEBUT novel, The Snow Child, author
Eowyn (pronounced A-oh-win) Ivey writes about a
childless couple who seemingly wish a child into
their lives. Ivey, on the other hand, knows well that
some things take time and work.
The Alaska native, who studied
journalism and creative writing at
Western Washington University and
creative nonfiction in the University of
Alaska Anchorage’s graduate program,
spent nine years as a reporter for
Wasilla, Alaska’s newspaper, the
Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.
Asked why she didn’t jump right
into novel writing, she says, “I’m a very
pragmatic person. I wanted more of a
stable career, and it helped me hone
my writing skills.”
STEPHEN NOWERS
Eowyn Ivey
For nine years she wrote an outdoor column,
along with covering the school and local govern-
ment beats—and won several awards along the way.
“At a small paper the sky’s the limit,” she says, “but
you’re also really busy.”
Eight years ago Ivey traded in her reporter’s
notebook for a job at a local bookstore, Fireside
Books in Palmer, Alaska. The store is not only a hub
for local writers and artists, it also provided inspira-
tion for this month’s Book Buyer’s Pick, the author
explains from her home roughly 30 miles northeast
of Palmer. One day she was shelving books when
she discovered a picture-book version of a Russian
fairy tale The Snow Maiden—about an elderly cou-
ple who create a girl out of snow who comes alive.
“Some people like ambiguous endings and
some don’t. I like ambiguous endings,” she tells The
Connection of her decision to let readers interpret
how the book ends.
That literary convention provides a smooth
transition into a bigger truth for Ivey’s life. Says the
author, of her home state, “If you’re here you love it
or you don’t.”
Ivey finds herself firmly planted in the first
group. She and her husband were high school sweet-
hearts. Although they both attended college in
Washington state, they made the decision that living
in Alaska would be the goal; they now have two
daughters, 12 and 4. It’s a life that is not without chal-
lenges. They don’t have a well, so the family brings in
water each week to a holding tank. They used an
outhouse before installing an indoor bathroom.
Ivey is quick to add that she does normal things,
such as taking care of her 4-year-old and then
handing off both kids to her husband before
going to work at the bookstore. She continues, “What’s more unusual is that I promised my 4-year-old a snow machine
ride to the lake after this interview.”
group. She and her husband were high school sweet-
in Alaska would be the goal; they now have two
outhouse before installing an indoor bathroom.
h
yr
handing off both kids to her husband before
o
ised my 4-year-old a snow machine
She adds, “I realize as I get older
it’s the basic things I take for granted.
I appreciate them more if I have to
work for them. I like the feeling of not
having it all be easy.” C
I appreciate them more if I have to
i
YEARS AGO a friend took
me to a quiet spot near
Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier
that, to this day, I can only
describe as a fairyland. I
can’t count the times the
shimmery purple-blue light
of that place popped into my
mind as I read this month’s
Book Buyer’s Pick, Eowyn
Ivey’s The Snow Child. Ivey
has found a lovely balance
between the harsh realities
of life in 1920s Alaska and
the lush dreaminess of a
fairy tale.
When a young girl
shows up at the cabin of a
middle-aged couple, she
brings with her an element
of magic but also serves to
;ll the very real void of the
children they never had.
Arriving with the snow and
leaving in the spring, the
girl, Faina, is more at ease
hunting and roaming snowy
hillsides than playing the
part of a normal child. Even
so, the trio become a family.
This debut novel serves
as a grand reminder of the
beauty of winter—and the
power of a single wish.
For more book picks,
see page 31.
COSTCO HAS 50 SIGNED COPIES of Eowyn
Ivey’s The Snow Child to give away. To enter,
go to Costco.com, search for “FebBookPick”
and follow the instructions. Or print your
name, address and daytime phone number on
a postcard or letter and send it to: Eowyn Ivey,
The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle,
WA 98124-1088.
NO PURCHASE, PAYMENT OR OPT-IN OF ANY KIND IS
NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES.
Purchase will not improve odds of winning. Sweepstakes is sponsored
by Hachette Book Group, 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Open to
legal residents of the U.S. (except Puerto Rico) who are age 18 or older at
the time of entry. One entry per household. Entries must be received by
March 1, 2012. Winners will be randomly selected and noti;ed by mail on or
before April 1, 2012. The value of the prize is $24.99. Void where prohibited.
Winners are responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes. Odds
of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Employees
of Costco or Hachette Book Group and their families are not eligible.
Signed book giveaway
FRANCE FREEMAN
Pennie Clark Ianniciello,
Costco book buyer
