Gregory Maguire, bestselling author of Wicked, combines fairy tale and folklore in this irreverent re-imagining of the classic story of mistaken identity - The Prince and the Pauper. Described by School Library Journal as "a beautiful reminder that fairy tales are at their best when they illuminate the precarious balance between light-hearted childhood and the darkness and danger of adulthood", this book will appeal to readers both young and old. Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father is dead and her mother dying, while her brother has been conscripted into the Tsar's army. Elena's future is as bleak as the wastelands surrounding her village of Miersk. That is until the night of a freak storm when a majestic steam train is forced to stop at the village's abandoned station. The train carries a fabulous Fabergé egg and Ekaterina, a girl whose fate is now entwined with Elena's. When their lives collide, a complex, funny and engrossing adventure begins. An adventure that features the mythical Firebird, a prince travelling incognito, the awesome city of Saint Petersburg, the glacial lands of the north, and - in a starring role - Baba Yaga, the enigmatic witch of Russian folklore, and her shapeshifting house, Dumb Doma, perched on chicken legs.
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THE HELL OF MILITARY BOOTS, STRIKING MARBLE FLOORS, made a sound like thrown stones. BEFORE
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(@WalkerBooksUK, 16 October 2014, ebook, 497 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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Gregory Maguire is one of my favourite writers and has been for years thanks to his Wicked series reimagining The Wizard of Oz. I haven't read him in a while though and was delighted to stumble across a couple of unread titles on my kindle. Like all of his books, this blends genres, in this case fable and fairytale with historical fiction to come up with something very unique. I've read other fiction featuring Baba Yaga so was familiar with the origins of the story. I've also seen a movie version of The Prince and the Pauper so I was familiar with the story as well. I really enjoyed reading this book and getting lost in the folklore of Russia for a while.
