Black Woods, Blue Sky - Eowyn Ivey - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Eowyn Ivey

GENRE: Literary Fiction, Magical Realism

PUBLICATION DATE: February 4, 2025

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: An poignant literary fiction set in Alaska. Haunting plot, flawed characters, atmospheric writing, intense emotions, slow pace, magical realism. Not a ‘Beauty & the Beast’ retelling as some sources claim. Much recommended but not to those who prefer likeable/perfect characters.

Plot Preview:

Twenty-six-year-old Birdie is a single mother to six-year-old Emaleen. Her waitressing job in an Alaskan lodge helps them survive, and the lodge owner even allows Birdie to live with Emaleen in one of the cabins. But while Birdie loves her daughter, she still has a reckless side to her that makes her yearn for more wild adventures. When Arthur, a local recluse who barely speaks to anyone, brings Emaleen back to safety when she goes wandering into the woods one day, Birdie finds a new hero, and a new dream. Ignoring the advice of those around her, Birdie decides to move along with Emaleen into Arthur’s isolated cabin atop the mountains alongside the Wolverine river. With just the three of them living in a small and shabby wooden cabin with no indoor plumbing or electricity, things are tough, but Birdie is determined to make this new part of her life work.

The story comes to us in the third person perspective of Birdie, Emaleen, and Warren – Arthur’s father.

First things first. Merely having a pretty woman and a physically-unattractive man in a romantic relationship doesn’t make a story the retelling of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ An NYT article states: “In an author’s note, Ivey cites “Beauty and the Beast” and “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” as inspirations.” My copy doesn’t have the author’s note, but even if I believe NYT’s report, “inspiration” doesn’t equate to “retelling”. It will be unfair to the book if readers pick it up expecting either of these fairy tales and then bash it for not being an accurate retelling. So please get that idea out of your head. This is NOT a retelling and bears only a minor point in common with both those fairy tales.

I have kept my review spoiler-free as usual. This book is best discovered by going in blind.

Bookish Yays:

🏔️ Emaleen – this little one won my heart! I wish I could jump into the book and rescue her from the adults in her life. I felt like crying for her so many times, but she herself hardly cried. Among the best child characters of all time!

🏔️ The child's voice is so authentic! Love it when authors write children in an age-appropriate manner.

🏔️ Arthur. I don’t know what to say about him. But this book wouldn’t be *this book* without Arthur. What a character!

🏔️ The choice of the three narrators. Perfect! Each sounds their age and represents their character’s personality excellently, even though the narration is in third person. Warren’s perspective is the most poignant.

🏔️ The secondary characters, especially Della, Syd, and Carol, are also memorable in their limited roles.

🏔️ The magical realism! I had forgotten to expect it, and was surprised when it popped up. The first scene containing this is so subtle that you'll miss it if you are speed-reading. The whole concept is intelligent as well as imaginative!

🏔️ While the pacing is generally on the slow-ish side, which is quite common in literary fiction, this book kept me on my toes. It takes its time to get going, but once we know what we know, the whole situation creates interest as well as dread.

🏔️ Love how the plot plays on the typical fears of people and uses these to heighten the tension. Even something as routine as a child’s alarm over a parent who hasn’t returned by the promised time is written in a gripping manner.

🏔️ The Alaskan setting is brought to life by the author’s words. Her being a native of Alaska helps!

🏔️ ‘Haunting’ and ‘atmospheric’ aren’t words you will see me use often, but this book has both those attributes in plenty. I am going to have a book hangover for many days now.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🐻 Birdie: not an ideal mother in any sense, but her shortcomings are written in a way that make you frustrated, and at times, even annoyed with her decisions. It’s not easy to write such a flawed character impactfully, but the author manages it to a great extent. But the heart being what it is, I wish I could have connected better with Birdie. Though I rooted for her, I couldn’t relate to her wild side.

🐻 The relationship between Birdie and Arthur was a bit too instantaneous. But considering Birdie’s personality, I guess it does make sense for things to zoom from zero to hundred that quickly.

🐻 The book is divided into three parts. The third part involves a time-jump, which left me with a couple of questions about the interim period. I still loved all the three parts; I just wish the gaps had been clarified.

Bookish Nays:

❄️ The ending is a bit abrupt. It might be a fitting finish to such a story, but I wanted more, much more.

Overall, this is the kind of book you cannot race through. It offers plenty of thought-provoking content through its characters and their flawed choices, the remote Alaskan wilderness and its denizens, and of course, the magical realism bits that seem utterly real. I relished the writing, the characters as well as the plot. Though the pacing was slower, the storytelling style and the emotional intensity of the events bowled me over.

This is my first book by Eowyn Ivey, and I am officially a fan of her writing now.

Much recommended to literary fiction lovers who have a taste for magical realism. Do yourself a favour and don’t read this as a fairy tale retelling.

My thanks to Headline and Tinder Press for providing the DRC of “Black Woods, Blue Sky” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.