
The Bear and the Nightingale
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Kathleen Gati
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By:
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Katherine Arden
Katherine Arden’s best-selling 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, best-selling 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)
©2017 Katherine Arden (P)2017 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Arden's supple, sumptuous first novel transports the reader to a version of medieval Russia where history and myth coexist." (Kirkus Reviews)
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Wonderful!
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Hard to stay with the story
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1.) Bad Russian accents - I am a bit surprised that several reviews said the accents were “spot on”..... sorry, but I found them annoying and very distracting. I wish the narrator hadn’t done them at all.
2.) Characters were not memorable- I just finished the book and I struggle to describe a single character without describing their family position or their job. The main character is a bit of an exception, but even still she didn’t have many other traits than just being defiant.
3.) The reoccurring last name -ovich - I get that the author was trying to use a last name that was common in the area and time frame, but EVERY SINGLE
PERSON HAD A LAST NAME WITH -ovich in it. That would be giving every person in Cambridge Massachusetts the last name Smith. Just because it is common does not mean everyone has that last name or something similar.
That was pretty much it, if you don’t think these things will bother you I would say go for it. It did have an interesting premise and leads nicely up to a sequel.
Overall I did like the story, but these issues did detract from enjoyment of it.
Good overall, but some major problems
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Interesting setting and characters but slow going
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interesting but did blow mw away
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a truly enchanting tale!
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Great story, mediocre storytelling
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Interesting, but grusome
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fabulous fairy tale!
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performance 11/10
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