The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The setting for this novel is Alaska in the 1920s. Mabel's baby is stillborn and she just needs to get away. She and husband, Jack decide to homestead in Alaska. Mabel feels isolated and depressed. She and Jack are drifting apart. Until it snows one night and they both go out and "play in the snow." Together they build a snow girl and feel more connected than they have in a long time. In the next days they begin seeing a young girl in the snowy woods. Is she their snowgirl come to life or a real child? The author was inspired to write this novel by by a Russian fairy tale. It is written in a beautifully descriptive language, almost poetry. A quote: "She seemed to him both powerful and delicate, like a wild thing that thrives in its place but withers when stolen away." A must read!