Reader's Ink discussion

Late in the novel, Faina tells Mabel, “I wish to be the mother you are to me, she said so softly Mabel doubted her own ears. But those were the words she spoke, and Mabel took them into her heart and held them there forever” (p. 351). How does this novel expand the idea of what it means to be a mother? How does it show that mothering goes far beyond physically or genetically creating and birthing a child? How does Faina help with this? Does it mitigate Mabel’s pain?

Good and thoughtful question. Having not been an actual mother myself, I guess I found this period of the book very tender. Today is my mother's birthday, and if she were still living would be 87 years old. Mabel and Jack both grieved their babies' loss their own way. So when Faina finds herself pregnant she was given the love her own mother to our knowledge didn't give. I don't remember what happened to her. So to be able to live in the cold and in the snow, Mabel even then brought her much joy. A friend of mine read this book for her book club and this is what she said, "There were some good things to think about--the relationships, the need to have someone to love and care for, and the fairy tale like quality of it. However, I had a problem with the ultimately selfish attitude displayed by the "snow child".

That was her take, and has given me items to think about.

I think Faina forces Mabel to expand her view of what it means to be a mother. She cares, she worries, she loves. She feeds her and sews her clothes. Like millions of women, Mabel has no biological children, but she still "mothers," similarly to how teachers, siblings, aunts, and other adults do. And Faina proves that Mabel is a great, great mother--she's fully a mother, in my view.

I didn't find Faina selfish at all. She has her own "essence" that is what she is, just as Mabel's selfhood is tied up in being a mum. It is Faina's nature to be Faina--she transcends the real, which is why I think the more bodily tasks--childbirth, nursing--are so difficult for Faina.