Overview
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.
A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.
Synopsis
A young woman goes to the ends of the earth—and beyond—to rescue the man she loves in this sweeping epic.
Publishers Weekly
Readers with a taste for fantasy and folklore will embrace Pattou's (Hero's Song) lushly rendered retelling of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." In an old Norwegian village, a highly superstitious mother tries to protect her youngest child, Rose, from a dire prophecy; as the various characters take turns narrating the story, it is readily apparent that no one else takes the superstitions seriously. Nevertheless, Rose is "different" in many ways, from her purple eyes to her passion for weaving, which leads her to make a cloak patterned with a "wind rose" (a mapmaker's symbol indicating the direction of the winds)She also seems to attract the attention of a white bear, and when the bear finally approaches her, offering to make her poor family prosper and to restore her ill sister's health if Rose will come away with him, she finds the offer impossible to resist. Pattou unfolds her story slowly and carefully, luring readers across many miles with the brave and determined Rose. Handsomely evoking a landscape filled with castles, trolls, shamans and spellbound princes, the story will exercise its audience's imagination. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Booklist
"A rich tapestry that will resonate with readers . . . . epic tale telling."Publishers Weekly
Readers with a taste for fantasy and folklore will embrace Pattou's (Hero's Song) lushly rendered retelling of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." In an old Norwegian village, a highly superstitious mother tries to protect her youngest child, Rose, from a dire prophecy; as the various characters take turns narrating the story, it is readily apparent that no one else takes the superstitions seriously. Nevertheless, Rose is "different" in many ways, from her purple eyes to her passion for weaving, which leads her to make a cloak patterned with a "wind rose" (a mapmaker's symbol indicating the direction of the winds)She also seems to attract the attention of a white bear, and when the bear finally approaches her, offering to make her poor family prosper and to restore her ill sister's health if Rose will come away with him, she finds the offer impossible to resist. Pattou unfolds her story slowly and carefully, luring readers across many miles with the brave and determined Rose. Handsomely evoking a landscape filled with castles, trolls, shamans and spellbound princes, the story will exercise its audience's imagination. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.School Library Journal
"Pattou's writing pitches readers gracefully between myth and fantasy..."Children's Literature
Fantasy novelist Edith Pattou takes a break from her "Songs of Eirren" sequence to pen this adventure story with roots in fairy tales and Nordic mythology. Rose is the eighth child in her family, born as a replacement to her deceased sister, Elise. Her mother is superstitious to the extreme that she insists each of her children be born facing a particular compass point. Contrary to her mother's plans, however, Rose enters the world from the North, an adventuress spirit destined to roam strange lands. When the white bear offers to spare the life of Rose's gravely ill sister and rescue the family from poverty if Rose will come to live with him, Rose sacrifices herself for the good of her family. Rather than leave Rose's fate in someone else's hands, though, Pattou gives her heroine the strength and courage of a modern woman. This girl can kick butt. Rose's determination leads her from her comfortable home to the mysterious arctic regions of the Troll Queen, whose curse has lain on white bear for one hundred fifty years. 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. 2003, Harcourt, Ages 12 up.— Christopher Moning
KLIATT
To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, September 2003: From the author of Fire Arrow and Hero's Song comes a retelling of the fairy tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" in nearly 400 pages. It's a tale that arises from several cultures, even from the classical Greek myth of Eros and Psyche. East takes place in a land very much like northern Europe some centuries back. There are five narrators—Father, Rose, Neddy (Rose's brother), the Troll Queen, and the White Bear. Rose is our heroine, the youngest of a large family, struggling with poverty. To save the family Rose goes off with the White Bear, who promises the family riches if Rose will come with him. Sound familiar? What's vastly different from "Beauty and the Beast" and other tales that are similar is the cold north, the ice, snow, white bear, trolls and so forth. We are definitely in another culture. The story itself is gripping, endlessly so, in all its forms. 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. The illustration on the cover, a color painting of a great polar bear with a lovely young woman beside him, will attract all who love fantasy. (An ALA Best Book for YAs.) KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Harcourt, Magic Carpet, 507p., Ages 12 to 18.—Claire Rosser