by Eowyn Ivey
First published 2012
Jack and Mabel homestead in Alaska during 1920. The brutal land breaks Jack's body while isolation crushes Mabel's spirit. Their childless marriage fractures under the weight of survival and loneliness. During the first snowfall, they shape a girl from snow in a rare moment of play. Morning reveals the snow figure has vanished. They spot a blonde child running between the trees. Faina appears to live wild in the forest. She hunts beside a red fox and moves across snow without leaving deep tracks. The girl survives alone in conditions that kill grown men. Jack and Mabel cannot explain how this child exists in their harsh world. She seems pulled from old stories rather than real life. They grow to love Faina as the daughter they never had. The wilderness holds secrets about the girl that will change everything they believe possible.
Genres: family-life, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, fantasy, adult-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, magical-realism, survival
Setting: Alaska
Period: 1920s
386 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: death