The Bear and the Nightingale: A Novel (Winternight Trilogy Book 1)

The first novel of the Winternight Trilogy, set at the edge of the Russian wilderness where winter dominates most of the year. Vasilisa and her siblings listen to their nurse's fairy tales by the fire, particularly stories about Frost, a blue-eyed winter demon feared by Russians for claiming unwary souls. The household honors the spirits that protect their homes from evil. When Vasilisa's widowed father remarries a devout woman from Moscow, the new stepmother forbids the family from honoring their household spirits. Vasilisa fears the consequences, and misfortune soon begins to afflict the village. As her stepmother grows harsher—determined to reshape the village and force Vasilisa toward marriage or convent life—the village's defenses weaken and evil from the forest draws closer. Vasilisa must draw upon dangerous gifts she has hidden to protect her family from a threat that has emerged from the frightening tales of her childhood.