Katherine Arden’s bestselling debut novel spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice. “A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the sharp edges of growing up.”—Naomi Novik, bestselling author of Uprooted
Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.
Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.
But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.
Praise for The Bear and the Nightingale
“Arden’s debut novel has the cadence of a beautiful fairy tale but is darker and more lyrical.”—The Washington Post
“Vasya [is] a clever, stalwart girl determined to forge her own path in a time when women had few choices.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“Stunning . . . will enchant readers from the first page. . . . with an irresistible heroine who wants only to be free of the bonds placed on her gender and claim her own fate.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Utterly bewitching . . . a lush narrative . . . an immersive, earthy story of folk magic, faith, and hubris, peopled with vivid, dynamic characters, particularly clever, brave Vasya, who outsmarts men and demons alike to save her family.”—Booklist (starred review)
“An extraordinary retelling of a very old tale . . . The Bear and the Nightingale is a wonderfully layered novel of family and the harsh wonders of deep winter magic.”—Robin Hobb
What would you do if you had a gift, a gift that enhances your life and that of those around you, but they don't know it? A gift that, if discovered, might even get you killed? Vasilisa, the last-born daughter of a land-holding family in the depths of Russia, knows this dilemma all too well. When evil blooms on the backs of a tarnished priest and a devout woman, Vasilisa will be the only one to stand between the flames and her people. Will she make that choice, knowing it could mean her death at the hands of those people she is trying so hard to save? Or will she save herself and watch them all burn?
First, before anything else, this book has been compared repeatedly to Naomi Novik's "Uprooted". And just...no. They are very different books. If you *liked* Novik's book, then you may like this one as well, particularly the fairy tale aspect that they share. However, they really are quite different in atmosphere, story, and characters.
As for that story and those characters - Arden did a wonderful job evoking the dark, cold, lonely winter, and the terror that could bloom when "something wicked this way comes". She really does have a lovely writing style that lent itself beautifully to this tale. As for the characters, Vasilisa of course would be my favorite, followed by the fairy creatures who really made me wish that we still believed in them - or those like them - in this day and age. They are complex, interesting, and - in some cases - quite fun. The whole story reminds me of a fairy tale based on fairy tales - something meant to be read or spoken aloud, during the cold of winter, around a fire - maybe even with something hot in a mug to sip on. Of course, as with many of the older fairy tales, good does not always win, and there is always a price to be paid. The question is, who pays that price, and who wins in the end?
I would definitely recommend this book. It is the kind of book you could read again and again and find details that you missed the first, second, and even third time.
