The Bear and The Nightingale

　　一個美麗的深冬故事、一個充滿魔法與怪物的魔幻小說……俄式童話經典登場！

　　俄羅斯北部曠野中有一個小村莊，寒風瑟瑟，幾乎一年到頭都在下雪。在這，女孩瓦西里誕生了，她擁有從美貌祖母那兒遺傳而來的神秘能力，能看見附著在樹木、湖泊裡的神靈。

　　瓦西里的母親因難產過世，遺留下瓦西里與五個兄弟姊妹。六年後，瓦西里的父親再婚，新繼母安娜與瓦西里一樣，擁有能看見神靈的特殊能力。但安娜畏懼這些神靈，認為它們是惡魔，也因此安娜極度厭惡瓦西里。

　　沒多久村莊裡來了一位新牧師，這位牧師無視村中祭祀神靈的傳統，要求村民停止奉獻神靈，使得這些保護瓦西里家鄉的神靈越來越虛弱。就在此時瓦西里被熊追逐，慌亂中進入了森林，正當她以為大難臨頭時，一位好心的陌生人拯救了她。瓦西里就這麼與神秘的陌生人住在一起，鍛鍊自己的能力，期待有朝一日回到村莊，拯救被牧師迫害的神靈們……。(文/博客來編譯)

作者簡介

　　Born in Austin, Texas, Katherine Arden has always been a wanderer. She spent her junior year of high school in Rennes, France. Following her acceptance to Middlebury College in Vermont, Arden deferred enrollment for a year in order to live and study in Moscow. At Middlebury, she specialized in French and Russian literature, taking eight months to study abroad in Paris and another eight months in Moscow. After receiving her BA magna cum laude, Arden moved to Maui, Hawaii, where she worked every kind of odd job imaginable, including guiding horse tours, working as a personal tour guide for international visitors, making crepes in a stand, and doing freelance grant writing. After two years on the island, she returned to France, where she currently lives and is writing full time.