The Snow Child

One of the BBC’s Books at Bedtime, 'The Snow Child' is a radio adaptation of Alaskan author Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel which itself is based on a Russian fairytale. The drama runs over a series of days, each episode lasting no more than fifteen minutes.

Like 'Paperwork,' 'The Snow Child' is an audio book rather than a radio drama and as such there is only the one speaker’s voice and no music or sound effects throughout the reading, a silence which I feel gives far more power to the speaker’s voice since there is nothing within the drama itself to distract the listener.

Despite being presented as science fiction and fantasy story, the script gives the impression of a couple's relatively normal, if sometimes somewhat miserable, life in their new home in Alaska. Among the scenes of normality, the listener hears that Mabel is childless, her one child having been stillborn and that it has caused misery in her and Jack, her aging husband’s, lives, a fact which seems to be slowly destroying their marriage. Whilst there is no outright hatred between Mabel and any of the other characters, it is clear the character feels uncomfortable around them, believing that they see her as a burden to Jack. Through this social awkwardness and Mabel’s grieving over her childless marriage in the first episode the audience is allowed to connect and empathise with the main character, something critically important for the success of the overall series. The script also never leaves Mabel’s point of view, which enables important information to be covered only briefly, for example those who do not already know 'The Snow Child' would find nothing significant about the fleeting appearance of the fox, being unaware of its connection to the later character of the wild girl. Also masking the fox’s appearance among other things is the amount of details and description given to the audience, since if the descriptions were more used more sparingly the audience would naturally assume that everything mentioned carried great significance in the play, further illustrating the importance of script in drama.