Enchanting, atmospheric (and timely) read

This week, the UK has been hit by massive* snowstorms that disrupted travel pretty much everywhere, as well as practically-arctic winds that have dropped temperatures to shockingly low*. Also this week, I was supposed to fly across the country for my PhD viva.

Well–that didn’t happen. So I read The Bear and the Nightingale instead. And it was just the most perfect book to read during this kind of weather!

The book takes place in a barely-fictional Russia in the Middle Ages. The fantasy elements come from the interweaving of elements of folklore. It follows the family of Petyr Vladimirovich, especially his daughter Vasilisa (Vasya), who can see the spirits of the homes and the wilderness that are part of the way of life for those in the Russian wilderness. The villagers can reconcile their gifts to these (usually invisible) spirits with their Christianity, until Father Konstantin, a priest hungry for more than belief, comes to them from Moscow. The winters get harsher and Vasya becomes embroiled in a fantastical battle between the demons of Death and Fear, with her survival and that of the countryside at stake.

Winter is a huge part of the book, an antagonist in itself beyond the main story, and one wrapped up in the conflict at its heart. The demon of Death, the frost demon, is harsh but fair; Fear, the one-eyed bear, uses winter to grow more powerful. The descriptions are very atmosopheric (especially when one is wrapped in multiple blankets in a poorly insulated UK flat in the middle of one of the coldest storms in recent memory).

Now, the book is not without its faults. For me, most of these faults come from how it deals with some characters and with Christianity. For most of the book, I thought the way Christianity was played against the folklore was done really well and was really fascinating. Unfortunately, it just became a predictable bogeyman by the end of the series. This might not bother many people, but I do think my desire for something cool to come from this stems less from my own Christian background and more for a desire to read something that was subtle and clever and sympathetic to multiple world views. (I will try to white out the bigger spoilers here where they pertain to characters–hopefully this works when published.)

SPOILERS

Sasha, the middle brother, is set up to be an important and interesting character. But he leaves about a third of the way through the book and is only mentioned once more. For the other sister this is a little more understandable, but nothing special was really ever made of Olga. I expected more of Sasha. :( Perhaps he will be in the sequel.

About halfway through the book, I was absolutely fascinated with the characters of Anna and Konstantin. Anna, like Vasya, sees the house demons but thinks she’s mad or possessed, and clings desperately to Christianity to protect her from what she cannot explain. I thought this was a really interesting twist. Instead, she is only there to become the evil stepmother from the legend. Konstantin is flawed in many ways, but I thought he had a lot of potential, and his flaws (like his fascination for Vasya) made him more interesting as well. Instead, he is treated as poorly as Anna and is only in the story at the end to make the ‘twist’ happen.

END SPOILERS

Aside from my problems with these aspects, though, it was a really enjoyable book. I read it over the span of an afternoon and evening, completely engrossed, and couldn’t put it down.

I’ve also been trying to read more fantasy books written by women, and am happy to add this to my list!

 

*I say massive–I mean they were big enough to cause disruption across the UK. Being from New England, however, the actual snowfall result is pretty disappointing. And when I say ‘shockingly low’–well, again, I mean for here. But I moved to the UK to get AWAY from this sort of arctic conditions!