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The Bear and the Nightingale
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A wild and willful young woman finds herself at the center of a tale of spirits, ancient evils, and the mysterious winter-king Frost—in the lyrical first novel of the Winternight Trilogy.
Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.
Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.
But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.
The Bear and the Nightingale
The Bear and the Nightingale
Cozy Pairings
Witches Brew is an earthy and softly floral fragrance that opens with warm clove and gentle spice, creating an immediate sense of familiarity. At its heart, delicate violet brings a subtle sweetness that lifts and softens the richness of dark patchouli. The base is deep and grounding, with smoky, woodsy notes that linger in the air, balanced by a soft warmth. Smooth and atmospheric, this scent feels both comforting and a little unexpected, blending warmth, earth, and soft florals into something subtly captivating.
Why we chose this: Vasilisa Petrovna grew up on fairy tales about Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, and discovered they were true. Witches Brew carries the earthy, ancient depth of a world where Russian folklore lives and breathes and the old spirits are real and need tending, the scent of something that has been rooted in place for a very long time and is not easily moved. It is the candle for every book in this trilogy. Light this candle as Vasya steps into the snow toward the moving castle in the forest, and let the grounding warmth of patchouli and violet fill the room like a hearth in a Russian winter, where the old magic is always closer than the firelight.