The Bear and the Nightingale: A NovelKatherine 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 |
Contents
Cover | |
Frost | |
The WitchWomans Granddaughter Chapter 3 The Beggar and the Stranger Chapter 4 The Grand Prince of Muscovy | |
The Holy Man of Makovets Hill | |
Demons | |
The Meeting in the Marketplace | |
The Word of Pyotr Vladimirovich | |
The Madwoman in the Church | |
The Mouse and the Maiden | |
They Only Come for the Wild Maiden | |
The Devil by Candlelight | |
A Horse Called Fire | |
A Guest for the Waning Year | |
Nightmares | |
The House That Was Not There | |
I Have Seen Your Hearts Desire | |
The Princess of Serpukhov | |
Domovoi | |
Part | |
The Priest with the Golden Hair | |
Wolves | |
At the Thaw | |
At the End and at the Beginning | |
Authors Note | |
Dedication | |
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Common terms and phrases
afraid Aleksei Alyosha Anna Ivanovna asked Baba Yaga Batyushka Bear beside blood boyars bread breath brother Buran caught child church cold creature dark daughter dead demons domovoi door Dunya earth eyes face fairy tales Father Konstantin fear feet fingers fire forest frightened frost-demon girl glance gone Grand Prince gray hair hand head heard horse iconostasis icons Irina Ivan kitchen Kolya Kyril Artamonovich laughed lips looked Lyoshka Marfa Marina married Morozko Moscow mother mouth Muscovy Mysh never night Olga Olya oven pale priest Prince of Serpukhov Pyotr Vladimirovich replied Rodion rusalka Russian sarafan Sasha scream seized Seryozha shadow shook silence sister sledges smiled snow snowdrops Solovey stallion stared stepmother stood suddenly teeth thing throat took trees Tsargrad turned Vasilisa Petrovna Vasochka Vasya saw Vasya thought vazila village voice wanted warm whispered white mare wind winter woman wood