Egg & Spoon

by Gregory Maguire

In this tour de force, master storyteller Gregory Maguire offers a dazzling novel for fantasy lovers of all ages.

Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar’s army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg — a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena’s age. When the two girls’ lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and — in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured — Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs.

• ISBN10: 0763672203
• ISBN13: 9780763672201
• Publish Date: 9 September 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 8 April 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Candlewick Press,U.S.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 496
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780763672201

Reviews

[Beth C.]

I am a *huge* fan of Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked', though I think some of his other books kind of were...not at good. So I was very curious to read this one and to see if it was capable of living up to its promise. In short - yes and no.

I loved the writing overall - it definitely reminded me of an old-fashioned fairy tale. The characters were interesting, including the narrator who pops in every so often to describe his part in the story. Where I think it went wrong was its length - in places, it felt like it was dragging on and on. I think had the editor been a bit more precise in his/her cutting, the book would have read better. Also - Baba Yaga. Loved her. Thought she was fabulous. BUT. I'm not certain how throwing in elements of the future advanced the story. It didn't make much sense at all, and was a bit jarring during the reading.

In all - a good story, but only if you have the patience to wade through its slightly-too-long length and don't mind the "time traveling Baba Yaga" thing.