The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden follows Vasya in medieval Russia (Rus) as she contends with the intersection of the real world and the unseen world of folklore and magic. Born of a natural witch, Vasya can see what others cannot: house and stable spirits who must both be nourished with offerings to protect their buildings, as well as wild spirits such as leshy and rusalkas. While much of the peasant countryside is steeped in Orthodox Christianity, Vasya largely tries to keep her ability to see these spirits and creatures under wraps. However, her step-mother Anna, who is a blood relation to her mother, also has the ability to see. While Vasya translates her abilities into protection, nourishment, and friendship with these creatures, Anna fears them and views them as devils. Often she goes to the newly sent priest, Konstantin, to help her deal with seeing these “devils.”
Meanwhile, Vasya’s elderly nursemaid holds onto a magical jewel meant for Vasya from the spirit of winter and death, Morozko. Readers are told that Vasya has been marked for Morozko because of her innate abilities, but we aren’t really told why. Vasya father, however, tries to marry Vasya off to protect her from Morozko, as well as Morozko’s sinister brother (the “bear”) who also seems to want Vasya for some reason.
While the idea of blending Russian folklore and spirits with a historical setting is interesting, for some reason I never connected with this book. If the narrative had only focused on Vasya’s POV I may have felt connected to her, but the use of multiple POVs, sometimes only once, ping pongs the reader around in a way that detaches them from the main narrative and Vasya’s struggle. I also felt that somehow not much actually happens in this book, if that makes sense. I probably feel that way because it is the first in a trilogy and is setting up a much larger story, however it does not seem to fully portray and fulfill a self-contained story. Much of the book seems to be Vasya in contention with family members while also hanging out with the house and forest spirits. We don’t see real action and moving of the plot until around the 70% mark. The Bear and the Nightingale has been on my TBR for a while since it has been well-received by many, but I ultimately did not connect with it and felt like a lot was just missing.
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