Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire is on sale in ebook format for $1.99. This book features Baba Yaga and Russian folklore. Maguire has written several fairy tale retellings for both young and old although he is of course most famous for his Wicked. This is the first time this has been on sale to my knowledge.
Book description:
In this tour de force, master storyteller Gregory Maguire offers a dazzling novel for fantasy lovers of all ages. Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar’s army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg—a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena’s age. When the two girls’ lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and—in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured—Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs.
Surrender to the magical iconic images of Russia and laugh out loud at the sly way modern references make this tale so touching . I suggest children would enjoy it read to them if they are not ready to read it themselves.
ReplyDelete