The Bear and the Nightingale (2017)

The Bear and the Nightingale is a historical fantasy novel written by Katherine Arden, published in 2017 by Del Rey Books. It is Arden's debut novel, and the first novel in the Winternight trilogy.

The Bear and the Nightingale is set in medieval Russia and incorporates elements of Russian folklore. The central character is a young girl, Vasya Petrovna, who is able to communicate with mythological creatures, at a time when Orthodox Christianity is attempting to stamp out all belief in such beings.

The Bear and the Nightingale was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and Arden received nominations for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. The full trilogy was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Series.

Synopsis

Plot

The story opens with an introduction of Pyotr Vladimiroch's household. Pyotr is a Russian boyar who lives in the isolated woodside village of Lesnaya Zemlya with his wife, Marina Ivanovna, and four children: Kolya, Sasha, Olga and Alyosha. The family is huddled around the kitchen on a cold winter evening to listen to their nursemaid, Dunya, recount the fairy tale of Morozko, the frost-demon, who tests the resilience of mortals and sometimes rewards the brave with treasures.

After the children have fallen asleep, Marina informs her husband that she is with child and unlikely to survive a fifth pregnancy. However, she is determined to see it through because she senses that her unborn daughter will inherit her late mother's spiritual gifts. To the grief of her family, Marina indeed dies in childbirth. Her daughter is named Vasilisa "Vasya" Petrovna.

Vasya grows into a free-spirited girl and is drawn to the wild places surrounding her village. The gifts foretold by her mother manifest in an ability to see and speak with the chyerti, household and nature spirits that are invisible to most people. Some chyerti provide protection in exchange for offerings, but their existence is fragile and intrinsically linked with mortal belief.

One day, while exploring Vasya comes across an unusual and unfamiliar oak tree. At the foot of this tree lies a one-eyed man. The man encourages Vasya to approach him, but their meeting is interrupted by the arrival of a blue-eyed man on horseback. Vasya scurries away while the blue-eyed man orders the one-eyed man to go back to sleep because it is still winter. Vasya is found by Sasha, her older brother, who had organized a search party fearing she was lost in the woods. After returning home, Sasha warns his father that Vasya is in dire need of a mother to raise her. Pyotr takes this advice and travels to Moscow with Sasha and Kolya in the hopes that his late wife's father, Grand Prince Ivan II of Moscow, will help him secure a new wife.

While in Moscow, Sasha meets a charismatic monk who makes a good impression and as a result Sasha begs his father to let him join the Christian monastery. Pyotr agrees on the grounds that Sasha spends one additional year at home to ensure that his decision is not impulsive. Meanwhile, the Grand Prince presents his own young daughter, Anna Ivanovna, to Pyotr as a new wife. Like Vasya, Anna has inherited the ability to see fantastical creatures, which she is convinced are demons. Anna's gifts have resulted in her being ostracized by her family, who think her mad, pushing her into the arms of the church. The Grand Prince takes advantage of Pyotr's request for a wife in order to get Anna out of the public eye. He also arranges a smart match Olga, Vasya's older sister.

Not long before leaving Moscow, Pyotr and his sons have an altercation with a blue-eyed stranger while out shopping for gifts for his younger children. Affronted and hungover from the night before, Kolya threatens him. In exchange for his son's life, Pyotr swears to present his youngest daughter with a gift of the stranger's choosing: a sapphire pendant.

Upon returning to Lesnaya Zemlya, Pyotr informs Olga that she will be married in Moscow. He introduces Anna Ivanovna as their new stepmother and instructs Dunya to present Vasya with the blue-eyed stranger's pendant. In a dream, Dunya is confronted by the stranger and persuades him that Vasya is too young to be entrusted with the talisman. The stranger accepts Dunya's appeal that he wait until she is grown.

In the following seven years, Kolya and Olga are both married and Sasha becomes a monk. Anna, meanwhile, realizes that Vasya shares her affliction. Because Vasya embraces her gift, Anna becomes convinced that she must be a witch. Her suspicions are spurred on by the arrival of a handsome priest, Konstantin Niconovich, who develops a frantic obsession with Vasya. Konstantin identifies that the isolated community still harbours lingering pagan beliefs and does everything in his power to snuff them out. His sermons result in a feverish devotion for the Christian God sweeping over the villagers. In turn, the chyerti's protection wanes. Animals grow sick, wolves ravage the countryside, crops wither and the weather takes a devilish turn. The weakening chyerti warn Vasya about Medved the Bear, the one-eyed man who threatened her as a child. With the village defenceless, Medved is able to influence and corrupt the villagers, particularly Konstantin and Anna Ivanovna.

Pyotr briefly hopes to marry Vasya off to a rich suitor, but the wedding falls through because Vasya refuses to be confined by societal expectations. Dunya, meanwhile, has continued to dream of the blue-eyed stranger. Twice she convinces him to give Vasya more time, but following the death of a local woman he appears again, demanding to know the reason behind her delay. Dunya at last confirms that he is Morozko, the spirit of winter. She confesses that she loves Vasya as if she were her own and fears what the frost-demon would have of her. Morozko reassures her that he can save them all, but that Vasya must have the necklace because the end of Dunya's life draws near.