The Witch and the Tsar

July 4, 2022
Gilmore’s enchanting debut adds to the growing genre of mythological retellings that reframe the acts of supposedly villainous women. In 1560 Russia, half-mortal and half-goddess Yaga Mokoshevna is called Baba Yaga the Bony Leg by those who only know of her by her demonic reputation. Fearful of magic that they don’t understand, mortals seek out Yaga’s services in the night, coming to her for aid with illness, love, or other ailments, but never in the light of day—until the czaritza Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yurieva arrives at her doorstep seeking a cure for a mysterious illness. After Yaga determines the czaritza’s been poisoned by an unknown would-be assassin, she’s reluctantly thrust into the political sphere. Czar Ivan IV, Anastasia’s husband, is a paranoid and controlling man who sees betrayal and treachery at every turn. As he drives Russia toward violence and war, Yaga discovers that higher powers may be pulling his strings. Spanning 20 years of Yaga’s immortal life as she fights to protect the homeland she loves from those with even greater powers than the czar, this epic tale brings both history and folklore to vivid life. It’s a fresh, exciting take sure to capture fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe and Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary.

Starred review from August 1, 2022

DEBUT Gilmore impresses with this feminist retelling of the Baba Yaga folktale set in 16th-century Russia. In Gilmore's hands, Baba Yaga is not the evil, old witch of myth, a rumor invented to reduce unmarried, reclusive women to monsters. This Yaga has a mortal father and immortal mother and has not aged past her thirties, even after centuries on Earth. She spends her time healing mortals and lives in a hut that has chicken legs and can understand her. When Anastasia, wife of the man who would become known as Ivan the Terrible, falls ill, Yaga realizes that someone is poisoning her and threatening the future of Russia. She also soon finds that immortals are meddling in the affairs of humans, which launches her on a years-long quest to both fight and find allies among the gods, as the fate of Russia hangs in the balance. Along the way, Yaga will experience heartbreak and love as she creates a found family and learns the shocking truth of who is pulling the Tsar's strings. VERDICT. Gilmore's immersive prose steeps readers in this wonderfully epic folktale fantasy full of magic and myth.--Melissa DeWild

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August 1, 2022
How does myth become fact, or a fantastical story meant to frighten children become reality? What happens when the daughter of the fertility and earth goddess, an old god, cares for mortals, but those mortals now worship only the Christian god? Followers of this new god declare this daughter of an old god a witch and twist her healing powers into something nefarious. In this feminist origin story, Baba Yaga is not the distorted and deadly blood-magic dealer from fairytale, but something more complex and human. She has goodness inside and is ripe with desire to protect those for whom she cares. Yaga's good intentions find focus on the tsarina, Anastasia Romanovna, who has come down with a mysterious illness. Taking steps to help Anastasia and her husband--the grand prince and tsar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible--draws Yaga into dangerous political intrigue, which reflect the actual events from Russia's bloody history in the late 1500s. A rich and well-woven story centered on subverted folklore played out against the backdrop of historical events, The Witch and the Tsar is not to be missed.

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