She can see and speak to the spirits of the hearth and home, even as the rest of the village begins to turn against the old ways at the urging of a new priest. Trigger warning – rapeThe Bear and the Nightingale is one of those books that everyone seems to love… except me.Vasya’s grandmother was a wild woman with strange powers, and Vasya has inherited some of her ability.

The Bear and the Nightingale is a wonderfully layered novel of family and the harsh wonders of deep winter magic.” -Robin Hobb Read more “An extraordinary retelling of a very old tale. 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) 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) will enchant readers from the first page. “Vasya a clever, stalwart girl determined to forge her own path in a time when women had few choices.” -The Christian Science Monitor “Arden’s debut novel has the cadence of a beautiful fairy tale but is darker and more lyrical.” - The Washington Post 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. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.īut 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. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. 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.

“A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the sharp edges of growing up.”-Naomi Novik, bestselling author of Uprooted Katherine Arden’s bestselling debut novel spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice.

The bear and the nightingale series