{"id":3375,"date":"2017-07-05T19:56:28","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T14:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2020-03-09T09:51:17","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T04:21:17","slug":"bear-nightingale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/bear-nightingale\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden\u2013 a Russian Fairytale that Leaves You Breathless"},"content":{"rendered":"
In a village in northern Rus\u2019 a girl named Vasya is born. Her mother dies in childbirth with the hope that she has passed on her magical lineage to the new child. As Vasya grows older, a dark force grows stronger in the woods. The Bear and the Nightingale<\/em> by Katherine Arden is a stunning, magical debut,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt was late winter in northern Rus\u2019, the air sullen with wet that was neither rain nor snow. The brilliant February landscape had given way to the dreary gray of March, and the household of Pyotr Vladimirovich were all sniffling from the damp and thin from six weeks\u2019 fasting on black bread and fermented cabbage. But no one was thinking of chilblains or runny noses, or even, wistfully, of porridge and roast meats, for Dunya was to tell a story.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n How can anyone not pick up a book that begins with a stunning passage as this? The rest of the book just gets better, let me assure you. The story takes place in the wild woods of northern Rus\u2019. Pyotr Vladimirovich, the boyar, and his family live happily in the woods. Pyotr has three healthy sons and a daughter. His wife, Marina, who has fey-like blood in her from her mother\u2019s side, longs for another child who will have magic in her. Thus Vasya is born and Marina dies in childbirth. Soon Pyotr remarries Anna from Moscow because he feels the kids (especially Vasya) are running too wild because they are growing motherless. The family starts a new life not knowing the strange power stirring in the woods that can threaten their existence and claim Vasya for itself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Needless to say, I adored this book. It was absolutely delightful in every page. It was the stunning cover that grabbed my attention first and the cover designed by David Grogan and Aitch was one of the Best book covers of 2017<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nReview<\/h3>\n