The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
– Book Review
Yaga lives deep in the Russian forest, tending to any that call upon her for her healing potions and vast wisdom.
She has been alone for centuries, with only her beloved animals for company. But, when Tsaritsa Anastasia, wife of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, shows up at Yaga’s cottage on the brink of death, Yaga is compelled to travel with her to Moscow to keep her safe.
However, the Russia Yaga sees as she makes her journey to the heart of the country is one on the brink of chaos. Tsar Ivan – soon to become Ivan the Terrible – grows more volatile and tyrannical by the day, and Yaga believes the tsaritsa is being poisoned by an unknown enemy. But what Yaga cannot know is that Ivan is being manipulated by powers far older and more fearsome than anyone can imagine.
Witches
Part history lesson and part fiction narrative, The Witch and the Tsar utilises an interesting method of blending folklore and accepted history, whilst introducing characters to readers who may not have a huge knowledge of their history. Along with the choice of characters this makes for an interesting narrative, and the story moves along at a fairly decent lick.
The Witch and the Tsar delivers a beautifully descriptive narrative, weaving a historical setting that is thrillingly vivid. The way in which Salnikova Gilmore describes the countryside, clothing, even the buildings, shows a deep love of her subject. This shines through the pages of the novel, as the characters travel across both timeframes and 1500s Russia.
Chicken Legs
I will openly admit to having minimal knowledge of Russian history and folklore prior to reading The Witch and the Tsar, but had a vague awareness of Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged house. The novel gives a hard open, dropping you straight into Yaga’s internal narrative, and positioning her front and centre as the teller of her own story.
Set over the span of more than twenty years of Russian history, The Witch and the Tsar is an interesting novel for a Western reader with little knowledge of the area in that time. While I have heard of Ivan the Terrible, my knowledge of 1500s Russia is poor at best, and Salnikova Gilmore does a decent job of taking us back in time and explaining some of the world such as it was. However for me there was a lot of exposition that felt heavy handed, and at times it took me out of the story. There is also a lot of use of Russian language which (being the person I am) I had to keep stopping reading and looking up. I very much appreciated the glossary at the end of the novel for its overview of characters from both folklore and history, and would recommend readers use this for reference.
With regards to pacing, there are regular interludes (labelled as such) that serve a purpose to forward the story and introduce a secondary narrator, but it took me out of the flow to an extent that I didn’t enjoy them. As the laws of library science tell us, every book has its reader, but sadly this one was not the one for me.
The Witch and the Tsar is available now, published by HarperCollins.
