Title: The Snow Child
Author: Angela Carter
In: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (Angela Carter)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Classics
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 1979
5th sentence, 74th page: The Countess reined in her stamping mare and watched him narrowly; he was soon finished.

A Count and Countess are riding in midwinter, when the count, seeing the snow on the ground, wishes for a child “as white as snow”. As soon as he makes his wish, a young woman of the exact description appears…

It’s like a really twisted, warped snow white. And for just two pages, it certainly packed a punch!

I really don’t know how I feel about this short story actually. A man wishes for a woman, he gets her, ditches his wife for her, and then a rose is formed. It is a really nice ‘how-roses-were-made-esque’ story. But it’s also kind of a reminder that some men can be pigs.

For such a short tale, there are a lot of feelings that I got from The Snow Child. Yet, I can’t actually put my finger on why. Maybe I’ll just have to read it a few more times…

Image source: Goodreads