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Review: The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
The Witch and the Tsar is perfect winter reading and I enjoyed it very much. Set in the Russia of Ivan the Terrible. He is the Tsar that the witch Yaga is pitched against in the title. This folklore retelling of Baba Yaga mythos is engaging and dramatic. If you’ve been reading my reviews you know I have a soft spot for feminst retellings of traditionally vilified women characters and The Witch and the Tsar does this really well. Yaga is a demi god, daughter of Mokosh. She is a Vedmar (witch) a healer and midwife she travels from place to place. Until she is called out in this christianised…
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Review: Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
Kaikeyi is a beautifully written retelling of the Ramanayan from Kaikeyi’s point of view. We follow her through from childhood to adulthood. There is a feminist angle to the story. Her desire to be more than society expects her to be and also improve things for other women. It’s written in the first person so it is her voice she is telling us her story and it is one that had me from the opening chapter. I’m not overly familiar with Hindu mythology but this was a story I couldn’t get enough of and sped through ravenously. I needed to know how KaiKeyi would react and what she would do…
