A writer called Eowyn Ivey

[Galadriel55]

Mith, do you mind telling me about one thing that I want to know most about the book (just out of personal interest), which is namely how much did Eowyn Ivey take from the Russian folk story.

The folkstory goes like this:

Once apon a time there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had everything they needed and were generally happy, only they were lonely, because they had no children.

One winter, after a large snowfall, they watched how the children from other houses ran out to play. Why don't we also go? - they thought. So they went outside and build a snow-statue of a girl. Just as they finished, the statue's hair became darker and the lips redder, though the skin remained pale: it turned into a real girl! The old couple rejoiced, and they brought her into their house and loved her like a daughter. They calles the girl Snegurochka (which is crudely translated as Snowling Girl).

All was well until spring came. Then Snegurochka's laughter stopped, and she started avoiding sunlight, hiding instead in the shadows and cool places. She became even more so in the summer. Once, during a hailstorm, she ran outside and played, and when it ended she cried bitterly. Her parents worried about her.

In the summer a group of friends asked Snegurochka to come with them to the woods to have some fun. She didn't want to go, but her parents insisted that it would be well for her to play with friends to lighten her mood. She went reluctantly, and always stayed aside from the games. Her friends lit a bonfire and started jumping over it, and they urged Snagurochka to join them. She jumped, and as she passed over the flames all that was left of her was a cloud of steam.



I read in the book description that a girl made of snow also comes alive, but otherwise the two stories don't seem to have any resemblance... What do you say?

(And I'm so interested because this folkstory is one of those that I grew up on, and I really liked it for it's sadness)

[Mithalwen]

Galadriel, That story is woven in to Eowyn Ivey's - the device being that the wife of EI's old couple, Mabel is the daughter of a literature professor and has known it since childhood. They do build a snow girl but how literally she comes alive is the ambiguity of the story and too much of a spoiler to discuss here. But if you note my current signature which is a quotation from the book you may get a clue as to why I found it ultimately uplifting and positive book - though I think I might have found it bleaker had I read it when in the first flush of youth. But getting increasingly middle aged and emerging from a sad time in my life and facing a new start I found it rather encouraging, Make of that what you will!

[Mithalwen]

BBC radio 4 has the Snow Child as the current book at bedtime (narrated by Miranda Richardson) if anyone is interested. The first episode was last night but is available http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ild_Episode_1/

[Galadriel55]

Oooo, I found the second!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ild_Episode_2/

I'm going to keep an eye on this. I wanna hear it, if I can't read it.

ETA: the third: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ild_Episode_3/

[Galadriel55]

Aww, I realised I've missed all the other episodes! I guess I'm going to have to actually find this book somewhere...

[Galadriel55]

I have just (literally about 5 minutes ago) finished this book, and I must say that it outdoes even its best recommendations. The story is so strong you can feel it, smell it, taste it, etc. No, I'm not doing it justice either. You just have to read it.

I am not going to spoil it for anyone going into the things I particularly liked, but I must say that the folk story was indeed weaved in very intricately, keeping the story true but at the same time fresh enough to be a completely different tale. I also thought Eowyn Ivey did a fantastic job in the way she did certain dialogues (the grammar part of it reflects so much of the story it's just a stroke of genious).

The story is simply so deep and so rich... I couldn't put the book down. Mithalwen, I owe so much to you!

[Mithalwen]

I am just glad you enjoyed it and I think it is a testament to the book that it has inspired such a positive response in someone a generation younger than the writer as well as the likes of me who might be a more obvious demographic.