Deathless
Book description
A handsome young man arrives in St Petersburg at the house of Marya Morevna. He is Koschei, the Tsar of Life, and he is Marya's fate. For years she follows him in love and in war, and bears the scars. But eventually Marya returns to her birthplace - only to…
Why read it?
3 authors picked Deathless as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Deathless is a lyrical retelling of Koschei the Deathless tales from Russian folklore, combining richly magical elements with historical and cultural details of post-revolution Russia. The novel presents wonderful oddities, such as Stalinist house elves, woven soldiers who fight battles between Life and Death, and bureaucratic dragons. However, the center of this story Marya Morevna, a child of the revolution and a complex character, who is capable of being at once naive, cunning, kind, and sometimes vicious. Throughout the journey of her life, Marya goes through many transformation, first with her marriage to Koschei the Deathless himself. She is tenacious…
From Andrea's list on women reclaiming their own power.
Set in Russia during World War II, this is a retelling of The Death of Koschei the Deathless. I was absolutely ensnared by the lush prose and the heart-tugging plight of a girl whose youth was stolen by war and hunger and strife. Though we live in very different times and places, in Marya Morevna I saw myself, a girl who reads Pushkin and feels more comfortable among the impossible creatures that dwell within the walls of her house than with the other kids at school. A girl whose childhood is both magical and frightening, who is one day…
From Alyssa's list on fairy tales to read on a dark winter’s night.
Catherynne Valente is another of those writers whose books you can safely buy sight unseen because you just KNOW that you will get value for your money. I chose Deathless for this list because it is the story of Koschei the Deathless… through the person of Marya Morevna, the woman who is his bride and his undoing. In this re-telling of the Russian fairy tale, which is told through “modern” times and can be both harrowing and bitterly amusing in turn, Valente accomplishes what has been described as “a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology,…
From Alma's list on with an unforgettable woman.
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