The Bear and the Nightingale

About “The Bear and the Nightingale”

In the remote Russian wilderness, where winter dominates and snowdrifts tower high, Vasilisa finds comfort in the stories her nurse tells. She is especially captivated by the tale of Frost, a winter demon who takes souls. Her nurse warns that spirits of home and nature protect against evil. After her mother dies, Vasilisa's father brings home a new wife from Moscow. The stepmother, devout and city-born, bans the family from honoring the household spirits. Vasilisa fears that something more is at stake than anyone realizes. As the village faces crop failures and creeping dangers, Vasilisa's stepmother grows more determined to control her. Vasilisa must use hidden gifts to save her family from a threat that seems to come from her nurse's darkest stories. The Bear and the Nightingale is a 2017 historical fantasy novel by Katherine Arden.