THISTLEFOOT

Part ghost story, part font of wisdom, this gorgeously written novel takes a fantastical romp while cautioning readers to remember the violence and inequity of the past—even when forgetting seems preferable.

As young American adults, Isaac Yaga, busker and pickpocket, and his sister, Bellatine, find themselves in possession of Thistlefoot, a magical house that moves on chicken legs. With their last name as a clue, the house opens a key to their past. They descend from Baba Yaga, the sinister witch of Russian folklore who inhabited such a house. The siblings’ quest will be to defeat the Longshadow Man, a murderous, shape-shifting supernatural enemy. In poetic language, the author leads readers to her definition of evil—the silencing of the brutality of the past. “The body remembers. The soured air remembers. We cannot forget.” Through both humorous and violent ups and downs, Isaac and Bellatine learn to deploy the contents of their strange, fantastical house in pursuit of justice. They bond with other bedeviled young people and revive ghosts through Bellatine’s power of Embering; heat emanates from her hands and wakes the dead. With echoes of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Sholem Aleichem, as well as Buddhist and Christian overtones, the Yagas unearth their past. They learn they come from people who dreamed and believed, who brought with them to America “languages, folded into the suitcases of their tongues.” They realize they must tell the story of Gedenkrovka, Russia, where a pogrom destroyed its Jewish inhabitants. Despite its serious subject matter, this novel contains delights on every page. The author displays a capacious imagination, providing an entertaining, colorful read while grappling with subjects of utmost importance to today’s turbulent world.

This book blooms from a fairy tale to a panoptic story that defies space and time, brimming with creativity, wisdom, and love.