[Galadriel55]

Mith, do you mind telling me about one thing that I want to know most about the book (just out of personal interest), which is namely how much did Eowyn Ivey take from the Russian folk story.

The folkstory goes like this:

Once apon a time there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had everything they needed and were generally happy, only they were lonely, because they had no children.

One winter, after a large snowfall, they watched how the children from other houses ran out to play. Why don't we also go? - they thought. So they went outside and build a snow-statue of a girl. Just as they finished, the statue's hair became darker and the lips redder, though the skin remained pale: it turned into a real girl! The old couple rejoiced, and they brought her into their house and loved her like a daughter. They calles the girl Snegurochka (which is crudely translated as Snowling Girl).

All was well until spring came. Then Snegurochka's laughter stopped, and she started avoiding sunlight, hiding instead in the shadows and cool places. She became even more so in the summer. Once, during a hailstorm, she ran outside and played, and when it ended she cried bitterly. Her parents worried about her.

In the summer a group of friends asked Snegurochka to come with them to the woods to have some fun. She didn't want to go, but her parents insisted that it would be well for her to play with friends to lighten her mood. She went reluctantly, and always stayed aside from the games. Her friends lit a bonfire and started jumping over it, and they urged Snagurochka to join them. She jumped, and as she passed over the flames all that was left of her was a cloud of steam.



I read in the book description that a girl made of snow also comes alive, but otherwise the two stories don't seem to have any resemblance... What do you say?

(And I'm so interested because this folkstory is one of those that I grew up on, and I really liked it for it's sadness)