Black Woods, Blue Sky

A Novel

By: Eowyn Ivey

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Snow Child returns to the mythical landscapes of Alaska with an unforgettable dark fairy tale that asks the question: Can love save us from ourselves?

“No one writes like Eowyn Ivey.”—Geraldine Brooks

“You will find yourself in places you have never been.”—Louise Erdrich

“Ivey is an enthralling storyteller.”—The New York Times Book Review

Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature.

Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for. She finds herself falling for Arthur and the land he knows so well.

Against the warnings of those who care about them, Birdie and Emaleen move to his isolated cabin in the mountains, on the far side of the Wolverine River.

It’s just the three of them in the vast black woods, far from roads, telephones, electricity, and outside contact, but Birdie believes she has come prepared. At first, it’s idyllic and she can picture a happily ever after: Together they catch salmon, pick berries, and climb mountains so tall it’s as if they could touch the bright blue sky. But soon Birdie discovers that Arthur is something much more mysterious and dangerous than she could have ever imagined, and that like the Alaska wilderness, a fairy tale can be as dark as it is beautiful.

Black Woods, Blue Sky is a novel with life-and-death stakes, about the love between a mother and daughter, and the allure of a wild life—about what we gain and what it might cost us.

©2025 Eowyn Ivey (P)2025 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Ivey is an enthralling storyteller who paints the Alaskan landscape and its inhabitants with equal affection. Her empathy for her characters doesn’t falter . . . [Ivey] weaves the tapestry of her story so deftly, presenting the natural world with respect instead of romanticization, that later developments hit us with devastating force.”—New York Times Book Review

“Black Woods, Blue Sky is an original work of art that only Ivey’s imaginative powers, deep knowledge of Alaska and its beings, and commitment to depicting the real, loving, and often confused lives of her characters could create.”—Anchorage Daily News

“With lush and visceral prose, [Ivey] makes you feel tossed about by the chaos and violence of the story just as much as you’re held still by its tender, hopeful moments. It’s a beautiful and haunting story that sits with the complexity of consequences, the limits and endurance of love, and blurry lines between reality and myth.”—Condé Nast Traveler

5 stars for setting and voice

3.75 stars rounded up to 4 stars for the voice in this unique fairy tale-esque story, Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey. This book is hard to review because while the writing in it is really good and the voice is superb - I got mad about one part and can't let it go. I am not going to spoil anything so I will just say, if you don't mind a little (ok, a lot) of magical realism in your dysfunctional family drama set against the stunning and wild landscape of Alaska - this book is for you.

Wow!

I didn't know anything about this book before I read it and I'm glad. A touching story about a girl, her mom, and the wilds of Alaska. The lead you know, the better it is!

Believable story

I liked the storyline and how it was told through the little girl. The narrator talked too slow for me. The story had a lot of believable detail.

Heartwrenching Literary Feat

This heartwrenching mythic tale was both authentic in terms of everyday Alaska (can vouch as a born and bred Alaskan) and riveting in its hyper realistic portrayal of the fantastical. A literary feat that defies genre.

Terrific story telling

Thrilled with the best book yet from this Alaska author . Waited patiently and was not disappointed! Thank you Eowyn Ivey! I ordered it in hardback too . Gotta share!

Fantastic writing

I really liked this book. The story is great, writing is fantastic. However, I could not stand the narrator‘s voice when she was narrating for Arthur. It was so awful.

Back and forth, happy and sad

That was a hard one. This book felt like a nice dream mixed with a nightmare. It was very well written but hard to get through. The full experience left me feeling very sad but journeyed. Back and forth I went. I don’t think I will be reading anything sad for a good long time. However, I’m glad I read this book. If you like a book about the bittersweet parts of wild Alaska this is for you. This is NOT a traditional shifter book nor a romance.

Magical

I loved everything about this modern fairy tale. I have only been to Alaska once all too briefly. Beautifully done.

The mixture of fantasy and reality

I’m familiar with Alaska and the descriptions of the flora and fauna, mosquitoes, animals and people, the lodge and ways of life, were so accurately described that I could close my eyes and invision it all.

Loved it!

Wonderful story! I couldn’t put it down. It reminded me a little of The Great Alone.