MIDDLEBURY — Katherine Arden returns to the Vermont Book Shop to read, discuss and sign “The Girl in the Tower,” Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 6:30 p.m. This is the second book in Middlebury alum Arden’s trilogy that began with the acclaimed debut novel “The Bear and the Nightingale.”
In “The Bear and the Nightingale,” rich Russian fairy tale strands are woven through vivid and authentic descriptions of 14th-century life in the far north country and Moscow, enchanting readers and winning awards and introducing an irresistible heroine, Vasilisa. Vasya, to her family, has grown up at the edge of a Russian wilderness, where snowdrifts reach the eaves of her family’s wooden house and there is truth in the fairy tales told around the fire. Vasilisa’s gift for seeing what others do not won her the attention of Morozko — Frost, the winter demon from the stories — and together they saved her people from destruction. But Frost’s aid comes at a cost, and her people have condemned her as a witch.
In “The Girl in the Tower’” she faces an impossible choice. Driven from her home by frightened villagers, the only options left for her are marriage or the convent. She cannot bring herself to accept either fate and instead chooses adventure, dressing herself as a boy and setting off astride her magnificent stallion Solovey.
Katherine Arden deferred enrollment at Middlebury College for a year in order to live and study in Moscow. Once at Middlebury, she specialized in French and Russian literature, also taking eight months to study abroad in Paris and another eight months in Moscow. She received her Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude. Arden currently lives and writes in East Middlebury.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Jenny Lyons at 802-388-2061 or [email protected].