So excited to read The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. Eowyn, whose mother named her after one of my favorite characters of all time, is an Alaskan bookseller and generally sounds like an all around lovely human being. The inspiration for her first novel (this one) came to her when she was shelving books and came across a beautifully illustrated Russian fairy tale.

I have to say that the cover of her book is fantastic (I readily admit to judging books by their covers) but that her novel sounds even better.

The description, via Shelf Awareness

Set in 1920, The Snow Child is the story of Mabel and Jack, homesteaders on the harsh Alaska frontier. They’re overcome by loneliness and despair, unable to conceive and breaking under the weight of maintaining their farm. In a fleeting moment of levity, they build a child out of snow. The next morning their creation has disappeared, but a girl named Faina enters their lives—and what they eventually learn about the mysterious child changes them all.

Doesn’t that sound completely enchanting? My only regret is that I didn’t know about it earlier!