In the 1920s, a grieving middle-aged couple, Mabel and Jack, move to the Alaskan wilderness to make a new start. Their cherished dream for a family of their own has shattered under the weight of miscarriages and a baby still-born, and their flight to the wilderness carries with it their hopes for a renewed sense of purpose together.

So begins The Snow Child (published 2012), a fairy-tale retelling of the Russian folktale called Snegurochka, about a maiden made out of snow by an old couple. This ...