In the tradition of modern fairytales like Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver comes a sweeping epic rich in Eastern European folklore--a debut novel about the ancestral hauntings that stalk us, and the uncanny power of story.
The Yaga siblings--Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist--have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive a mysterious inheritance, the siblings are reunited--only to discover that their bequest isn't land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs.
Thistlefoot, as the house is called, has arrived from the Yagas' ancestral home in Russia – but not alone. A sinister figure known only as the Longshadow Man has tracked it to American shores, bearing with him violent secrets from the past: fiery memories that have hidden in Isaac and Bellatine's blood for generations. As the Yaga siblings embark with Thistlefoot on a final cross-country tour of their family's traveling theater show, the Longshadow Man follows in relentless pursuit, seeding destruction in his wake. Ultimately, time, magic, and legacy must collide--erupting in a powerful conflagration to determine who gets to remember the past and craft a new future.
An enchanted adventure illuminated by Jewish myth and adorned with lyrical prose as tantalizing and sweet as briar berries, Thistlefoot is an immersive modern fantasy saga by a bold new talent.
Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780593314166
Publisher: Random House USA
"I have never found use for the word rollicking until I dove into Thistlefoot. This is a genuinely rollicking adventure. It rollicks very hard. It is skillfully stuffed with startling rollickers. Pick up this book and prepare to be thoroughly, comprehensively, joyfully rollicked." – Lemony Snicket
"Steeped in the ancient tropes of folk tales and animated by a passionate belief in the vital role of storytelling, GennaRose Nethercott's first novel builds on her work as a folklorist and poet. . . . Gorgeously written . . . riveting and moving." – The Washington Post
"At times solemn, at times playful, the [narrator] speaks to the reader like a storyteller to a crowd gathered around a campfire. . . . [Thistlefoot] balance[s] fun and solemnity, joy and suffering."
– NPR