A Close Read: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Emotional, not Sentimental

PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE TO BE TAKEN DIRECTLY TO THE SUBSTACK SITE TO READ THIS POST. IF NOT, THE PHOTOS WILL NOT SHOW UP AND YOU’LL BE MISSING A SIGNIFICANT ELEMENT OF THE READ.

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It’s been far too long since we did a ‘close read’ post!

The Snow Child, by Alaskan Eowyn Ivey, is a beautifully written book. The author has worked as a newspaper reporter and bookseller and the book was a finalist for the Pulitzer for Fiction. It’s not a new book. It was published in 2012, and she’s published a second since then, with a third coming out this spring. It takes TIME to produce work like hers. Please remember that when you feel like you’re not “keeping up” to some nebulous thing that doesn’t exist!

In The Snow Child, what’s noteworthy for us as writers? Light-handed poetic prose stands out. The tone of genuine emotion as opposed to the sentimental. The magical realism. The wonderful little quirky thing Ivey does with dialogue punctuation…

Let’s take a look.