Join us for an evening with Eowyn Ivey, author of the million copy bestseller The Snow Child, as she talks about her new novel Black Woods, Blue Sky, a novel about the beauty and terror of the Alaskan wilderness, the love between a mother and a daughter, and what it means to face down our fears and survive them.
Birdie’s keeping it together, of course she is. So she’s a little hungover on her shifts, and has to bring her daughter to the lodge while she waits never tables, but it’s a tough town to be a single mother, and Birdie just needs to get by.
And then Birdie meets Arthur, who is quieter than most men, but makes her want to listen; who is gentle with Emaleen, and understands Birdie’s fascination with the mountains in whose shadow they live. When Arthur asks Birdie and Emaleen to leave the lodge and make a home, just the three of them, in his off-grid cabin, Birdie’s answer, in a heartbeat, is yes.
Out in the wilderness Birdie’s days are harsher and richer than she ever imagined possible. Here she, and Emaleen, will learn the whole, fearful truth about Arthur.
Black Woods, Blue Sky is a daring reimagining of the legend of Beauty and the Beast, that asks the question: can love save us from ourselves?
Having made Black Woods, Blue Sky our Book of the Month for February 2025, we’re delighted to welcome Eowyn back to Booka when she vists the UK this June.
Black Woods, Blue Sky is an enthralling novel about the endurance of love, the power of forgiveness and the savage, irresistible allure of wild places – Paula Hawkins, author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Entrancing, tender, bold and beautifully strange: in Black Woods, Blue Sky, Eowyn Ivey does again what she does so brilliantly. Out of myth she weaves a beautiful contemporary story to delight the senses, and keep us turning, page by page, to the astounding end. She makes us think about the space where man becomes nature, and how we only learn when we listen to the world beyond our own. I read with my heart in my mouth and filled with wonder. This is a very special book. – Rachel Joyce, bestselling author of MRS BENSON’S BEETLE
To be in the imagination of Eowyn Ivey is to be wrapped in the exquisite pelt of the wilderness. This book is a place I will revisit, time and again. – Jackie Morris, author of THE LOST WORDS
Tickets: £10 without book (Admits One, ticket redeemable against a signed copy of Black Woods, Blue Sky) or £20 with book (Admits One, includes a signed copy of Black Woods, Blue Sky).