The Snow Song

The Snow Song is a beautifully wintry story which would be perfect, I think, for readers who also enjoyed books like Neil Gaiman\’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I noticed, in the isolated village location and feminist fairytale style, parallels with Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands by Sonia Nimr which I will be reviewing next month. I loved Gardner\’s portrayal of this entrenched community and the stunning mountain location surrounding them. The Snow Song is a fairytale so characters do fall into stereotypical roles, but there is also a greater emotional depth and complexity than I had expected to each of them. Gardner deftly captures the people\’s fear and shows how easily this is used to manipulate them. She also understands how people, particularly certain of the women here, use and enforce repressive traditions to protect their own social standings. They would rather see themselves at the top of the second class echelon than fight for true equality and risk being only one among many. Edith\’s daily life is constrained by her village\’s traditions – a series of edicts designed by the male elders in order to keep \’their\’ women within the village and to ensure all strangers stay away. When Edith flouts these rules by chatting to an itinerant shepherd, she sets in course a battle of wills that results in her not only being figuratively silenced, but literally so. Edith\’s narrative is very much a coming of age story as she matures from idealistic lovestruck girl to self-determined woman. She isn\’t actually a princess, but this story is firmly in the \’princess saves herself\’ genre and is a fine example! I highly recommend The Snow Song to young adult and adult fairytale readers.

I read this in one winter evening, and it did keep me interested until the end. Would read like a child\’s fairy tale, if it wasn\’t for all the incest. Decent story and satisfying conclusion.

A cracking story with all the right ingredients of good bad indifferent and down right evil. Reminded me of Chocolat. Huge wads of allegory and allusions to the crazy superstitions and accepted norms that hold people back all over the world. Compelling and compulsory reading.

This was a reasonably interesting story that contained quite an array of situations and dynamics found in an old and isolated village, that still would reverbrate with modern day society. It could be looked at as a tale of good versus evil but with insights into the perils of evil and self interest. Mysogyny abounded, and that with suspicion and fear of the unknown, the evil had the foundation to entrap the simple folk living there. This was counterbalanced with some who were unwilling to be crushed with these shadows and love and courage comes to the fore. It was worth a read and one could take away a sense of what really matters in life after reading.

Always buy a Christmas story. Was not sure this would hit the mark. Read in one 4hr sitting. At its base its a love story but its so much more on so many different levels about power, the power of the voice but equally the power of silence as well as a tale of womens rights and so much more. Absolutely loved it.

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