Author: Katherine Arden
Vasilisa lives at the edge of the forest in the Russian wilderness with her father and siblings. Her mother died and after years of living alone, her father goes to Moscow and comes back with a new wife. Vasilisa's new stepmother does not believe in the Old Ways of honoring household spirits and forbids them to leave out bread or any of the other traditions. Vasilisa continues in secret, knowing that stopping the Old Ways might have dangerous consequences. As others stop honoring the old spirits, strange creatures begin coming out of the forest, crops fail and bad luck seems to haunt the village. As whispering starts about Vasilisa being a witch and bringing the bad luck, her stepmother demands she either be married or sent to a convent. But, the young girl knows she must not leave the forest because only she can protect her family and the village from evil.
I listened to the audio book version of this story (Random House Audio). Narrated by Kathleen Gati, the audio is just under 12 hours long. I listened to this book every night at bedtime for a week, curled up in my blankets with hot tea and my dogs just listening to Gati read. I felt like Vasilisa and her siblings sitting around the fire listening to folk tales told by their old nurse. :) Gati has a nice voice and her performance really brought out the folktale/old fairy tale feel of this story. I have partial hearing loss, but was easily able to hear and understand this entire book.
A lovely story! I already have book 2, The Girl in the Tower, queued up and ready to go! The old folk tale feel of this trilogy is just a joy to listen to on audio!
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