Finished: The Snow Child (Ivey). A lovely, rather spell-binding book, about a couple, Mabel and Jack, who cannot have children, so they move away from their families and up to the harsh wilderness of Alaska to make a go of it, just the two of them. When they create a snow girl, complete with red hat and mittens, their lives change forever. They are just into their 50's when they move to Alaska, barely making ends meet, trying to scrape out a living by farming. They are still grieving the loss of Mabel's only pregnancy, a stillborn baby in the late term. They stick to themselves and don't wish to meet or rely on neighbors, going into town only for groceries and other supplies. Life has become monotonous and hard, with very little joy. One night, during a heavy snow, Jack and Mabel suddenly get unusually playful and start having a snowball fight! Mabel then insists they build a snowman, and like giddy children, they do. With the addition of some red hat and mittens, they decide to make it a snow girl, and Jack intricately carves a lovely face. The next morning, the snow girls is just a pile of snow, but the red mittens and hat are gone. Soon after, both Jack and Mabel keep seeing a snippet of a girl in a blue coat, red hat and mittens, and white-blonde hair dashing in and out of the woods with a red fox always at her side. They worry that this child is alone in the wilderness, and wonder if they are imagining her. About this time, they meet their closest neighbors in town, the Bensons. George, the father, insists on bringing his sons and helping Jack get his fields done, as Jack is struggling and about to go under. Then he introduces them to his wife, Esther, a whirlwind of a person, and suddenly, Mabel and Jack have good friends that they never expected to or wanted to have. It was so nice reading a story where there were actually people who grew fond of each other, and helped each other with genuine concern and compassion with no ulterior motives! Still, most of Jack and Mabel's time is spent thinking of the little girl who appears at random times. Finally, one day, she comes closer and even comes into the house for a meal with them. It takes a long time, but she comes to trust them, but always runs out and back to the woods by nightfall. Her name is Faina. Mabel thinks back to a storybook her father used to read her about a Russian couple who couldn't have children, but created a girl out of snow who became real. She begins to think that Faina must be more than human, as she has a deep need for the cold and outside. When Faina tells them goodbye as the spring thaw arrives, they are devastated. They think they'll never see her again, but she comes back year after year once the snow arrives. She becomes the daughter they never had and she grows to love them just as much. When she is 16 she meets the Benson's youngest son, Garrett, who is passionate about living off the land, trapping and hunting, and they seem to be soul mates. They fall for each other immediately, much to the dismay of Jack, who doesn't like to think of the hours alone they spend out in the wilderness. Mabel can see that they are in love. Sure enough, Faina becomes pregnant with Garrett's child, and they marry and settle into a cabin built by Jack and Garrett. They all worry that Faina will never be able to stay put and have a "normal" lifestyle, caring for her child. Faina gives birth to a healthy baby boy, but her own health deteriorates.  She loves the baby fiercely, as she does Garrett, but she has a high fever and begs to be taken outside to the cold. Garrett fashions her a bed outside, and in the middle of the night, Faina disappears, leaving just her marriage quilt and her bed clothes on the ground. Mabel and Jack grieve the loss of another child, but Garrett searches and searches for her throughout the woods. They all know in their hearts that she is truly gone, though. A few years later, Mabel and Jack are still there, helping Garret to raise Little Jack, along with the Bensons who delight in their share of grandparenting. A finalist for the Pulitzer, The Snow Child is a lovely story, beautifully written, but heartbreaking at the end with the loss of Faina. However, you never really feel like she's far away. :-)