A touch of The Bear and the Nightingale, a bit of Juniper & Thorn, and a sense of wonder makes up this lyrical Russian-inspired fantasy debut steeped in Slavic folklore, about a young woman in search of a home, and a home in search of people to make it feel lived in.
Marisha's time is running out. She's already lost her family to the sleeping plague, and she fears she'll be next. Penniless and desperate, Marisha is forced to accept a job as a sorceress apprentice to the notorious koldunya, the sorceress Baba Zima who dwells in a magical house on chicken legs.
But Baba Zima is renowned for being both clever and cruel. And most difficult of all is her current apprentice, Olena, a reluctant ally who wants nothing to do with Marisha. Despite her fears and Olena's cold demeanor, Marisha finds herself drawn into the magical world of koldunry and delves further into Olena's research—a cure for the sleeping plague.
Accompanying Olena on an increasingly dangerous, seemingly impossible search for a cure, she finds hidden connections between the sleeping plague, her own family's history, and her bizarre, recurring dreams: dreams of a masked ball where the deep sleepers are trapped endlessly dancing—and a monstrous beaked man who haunts her every step…