Staff Pick
A wonderful folktale retelling inspired by the oft-forgotten fairy tale, "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," infused with wit, romance, and adventure! Recommended By Grace B, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Rose has always felt out of place in her family, a wanderer in a bunch of homebodies. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she loses her heart, discovers her purpose, and realizes her travels have only just begun.
As familiar and moving as Beauty and the Beast and yet as fresh and original as only the best fantasy can be, East is a novel retelling of the classic tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," a sweeping romantic epic in the tradition of Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine.
Review
"[A] rich tapestry that will resonate with readers of books such as Robin McKinley's renderings of Beauty and the Beast....[T]he stuff of epic tale telling, replete with high drama and compelling characterizations." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Pattou's writing pitches readers gracefully between myth and fantasy, inviting those unaccustomed to either genre to explore the frozen world of questing that she has so vividly created." School Library Journal
Review
"Readers with a taste for fantasy and folklore will embrace Pattou's lushly rendered retelling....Handsomely evoking a landscape filled with castles, trolls, shamans and spellbound princes, the story will exercise its audience's imagination." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Rose is a sturdy character inside and out...and the pace does pick up in the second half but only fitfully does this achieve the intensity of feeling or vividness of setting that drives the best of the recent flurry of retold romances." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"The story itself is gripping, endlessly so....Pattou certainly has made a successful fantasy out of a simple fairy tale: each character has a fleshed-out personality and the details of such work as map making and sailing ships among the icebergs come to life as she describes them." KLIATT
Review
"Related in the alternating point of views of Rose, her father and brother, the Troll Queen, and white bear, this fantasy adventure deserves kudos for creating memorable characters, and soaring beyond the traditional fairy tale." Children's Literature
Synopsis
Rose has always felt out of place in her family. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him, she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she finds love, discovers her purpose, and realizes her travels have only just begun.
As fresh and original as only the best fantasy can be, East is a novel retelling of the classic tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," told in the tradition of Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine.
Synopsis
A beautiful, new edition of the beloved fantasy hailed as "the stuff of epic tale telling" (Booklist), perfect for fans of Beauty and the Beast from New York Times best-selling author Edith Pattou.
Rose has always longed for adventure, so when an enormous white bear appears one evening and makes her a mysterious offer, she accepts. In exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family, she must live with the white bear in a distant castle. But Rose soon realizes that all isn't as it seems. As she tries to settle into her new life, she makes a devastating mistake. Now she must choose: return to her safe and loving family or go on a dangerous quest to fix what she has broken--and perhaps lose her heart along the way. A sweeping romantic epic as timeless as any fairy tale and thrilling as only the best fantasy novels can be.
About the Author
Edith Pattou is the author of two novels to date in the Songs of Eirren series: Hero's Song and Fire Arrow, a Booklist Top Ten Fantasy Novel of the Year, as well as Mrs. Spitzer's Garden, a picture book illustrated by Tricia Tusa. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.