Monday, October 1, 2012

Someone To Watch Over Me

 
photo by Anna Reavis
 
“In my old age, I see that life itself is often more fantastic and terrible than the stories we believed as children, and that perhaps there is no harm in finding magic among the trees.”  Ada in The Snow Child
 
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is a charming adult fairy tale about wanting and waiting for something that seems to remain just beyond your grasp until you stop waiting for it, and suddenly it appears.  Part of the lesson is that while you may not get exactly what you want, what you get may be more lovely than you imagined it could be.  The story speaks to the yearning we all have to belong to someone, to be part of a family, to be loved and to love.  Even the wildness that seems bred into the snow child herself doesn’t preclude this desire in her.
I chose to read the book with some misgiving because I assumed it was going to be just magical realism, and I don’t always love magical realism, but the story isn’t what it seems to be at all.  You have to read it to see what I mean.  I didn’t love the ending, but I still recommend it for a sweet, entertaining read.


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