Review of Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

Eowyn Ivey offers elements familiar from her other two novels--a cold, unforgiving setting; magical realism; attempts to overcome seemingly insurmountable complications; chosen family; and the healing power of love--in this atmospheric, strange, beautiful, and tragic story.

"Now are the woods all black, but still the sky is blue. May you always see a blue sky overhead, my young friend."

Birdie's a single mother to Emaleen and a waitress in a small Alaskan town. She's not perfect, but she's getting by. Yet she often yearns for her more carefree youth and connection to nature.

Arthur, a recluse who only comes into town at the change of seasons--and who others avoid as actively as he avoids them--saves Emaleen from being lost in the wilderness. Birdie is drawn to his capable outdoorsmanship, and against the advice of everyone she knows, she and Emaleen move out to his remote home to live off the grid.

But Arthur is mysterious, and he's not who Birdie thought he was. Has she traded her safety and Emaleen's for the false promise of an idyllic life immersed in the natural world?

Black Woods, Blue Sky is a cold-setting story--one of my favorites--in which the unforgiving weather, rough terrain, and remote location combine with the danger from wild animals to test Ivey's characters' mettle.

As with Ivey's other books, Black Woods, Blue Sky centers around a magical realism element that is skillfully introduced and carried through. Characters find peace in living deeply in nature, but isolation and wild tendencies threaten to be their undoing. Unorthodox relationships lead to life-and-death matters of trust, and chosen-family is essential to the story in several ways.

Arthur is unlike anyone Birdie and her daughter have ever met; his speech pattern is unusual, and he disappears for days. Birdie allows herself to overlook his strange behavior because he cares for them and offers an immersive, deep-woods life away from modern distractions. But as she begins to focus in on what may be the truth and discounts the power of instinct and the unpredictability of a wild spirit, she also draws a long-simmering danger toward herself and her daughter.

Her mom knew how to do lots of things. She knew how to find blueberries and catch fish and shoot a gun, but Emaleen was worried that she didn’t know how to keep them safe.

A late portion of the story takes places in a time period years later than Birdie and Emaleen's foray into the wild; there are resolutions here, but the momentum of the earlier story felt lost to me.

I received a prepublication edition of Black Woods, Blue Sky courtesy of Random House and NetGalley.

More Eowyn Ivey Love

Eowyn Ivey is also the author of To the Bright Edge of the World, which I listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Chilly Books to Read in the Heat of Summer, and The Snow Child, which I included in the list Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love.