The Witch and the Tsar: a captivating 2022 debut historical fantasy retelling of the Russian folk tale of the legendary Baba Yaga

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Noch’s bright yellow gaze fixed on me pointedly. She let out a screech loud enough to reanimate the skulls on the fence encircling my izbushka.

Let’s talk about magic for a moment. It’s an important ingredient in any fantasy novel, but is usually more ethereal in myths. How have you approached magic in The Witch and the Tsar ? Ivan Bilibin, Baba Yaga, illustration in 1911 from “The tale of the three tsar’s wonders and of Ivashka, the priest’s son” (A. S. Roslavlev) What we got was a happy ending with a flawed, but ultimately good feminist icon. If I didn't know anything about Baba Yaga at all, I'd be pointing at this and going, "See? See? Men bad!" while ignoring the necessity for the big bad, the big wishgranter, the complicated, bigger-than-life IDEA of Baba Yaga and what she meant to countless myth-lovers. 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. I always liked mythology from all over the world and Baba Yaga has been one of my favorites for a long time.

The Witch and the Tsar

Dozens of books have hit shelves over the past couple of years that aim to reevaluate and reframe the stories of some of the most vicious and villainous women in fiction, giving supposed monsters from Greek mythology, witches from Western fairytales, giants from Norse legends, and even queens from Indian epic poems the voices and perspectives that have long been denied to them. (Long may this continue, is what I’m saying—because it’s honestly producing some truly excellent stories.) The narrative is rather straightforward and the plot didn’t have the twists and turns that I expected. However, the historical references to actual people and events added a significant layer of interest to the plot. The author’s note is especially helpful in getting insight into what the author wanted to accomplish as well as whether some events were real or fictional. There is also a glossary of key figures (historical, fairy tale, and mythological) as well as places that are key to the story. The historical content seemed well researched. Russia’s fascinating myths and violent history swirl like ingredients in a magic potion in The Witch and the Tsar, with enchanting results. A vivid, immersive dream of a story.” This is a feminist retelling of Yaga, deconstructing the conventional stories around the figure and exposing the ostracised wise woman behind them. Gilmore sets out to do for Baba Yaga what Miller did for Circe, Saint for Ariadne, North for Penelope…and achieves it beautifully…[A] rich and heady blend of historical fiction and mythological retelling.”

Expertly drawing from Russian history and mythology, Olesya Salnikova Gilmore transforms Baba Yaga into a complex heroine, whose quest to save her country sparkles with folk magic and supernatural intrigue. A powerful, original story.” But there’s far more to it. When reading the author’s note, you learn of what inspired the author and what she hoped to achieve. I think she did. This is one of those books that will only grow richer with rereading.

After I read Andreas Johns’s Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale, I learned that the Baba Yaga we know is an invention of the fairy tales written and disseminated in the nineteenth century—mostly by men. Some believe that before Christianity arrived in Russia, Baba Yaga had been a fertility and earth goddess worshipped by Slavic pagans. She may even have been a version of or a descendant of the deity Mokosh herself. Did I mention she's lived for centuries, since before Russia existed? Well, be prepared for an ignorant witch to give you history lessons, then, because this book is heavy on the infodump as the author often doesn't know how to weave the historical facts into the plot and uses Yaga as your history teacher. A history teacher that thinks Russia is the continuation of Rus' without even mentioning that it was Kyivan Rus', and lets Ivan call Prince Volodymyr the Great, who was Grand Prince of Kyiv, one of the "great princes of Russia"... conveniently ignoring that, just right before this, it was said Russia didn't exist yet and again erasing Kyivan Rus' from the picture. Oh, and also, the Livonian war that's going on for a good chunk of the book isn't a result of, you know, Russia's imperialist ambitions, no, it's the Lady of Death making Ivan hunger for expansionism because she wants to destroy poor old Russia. The villain here is her rather than Ivan, who's just a poor crazy old sod manipulated by the evil goddess and Koschei the Deathless and their minions, thus erasing any semblance of responsibility from Ivan the Terrible as a mere puppet instead of the mastermind and instigator he really was. Good Tsar/Bad Boyars is played throughout with the Oprichnina, too, because the bloodshed is shown in detail and in all its gory glory when it's the Oprichniki acting on their own, but never when it's Ivan spilling the blood. What was I saying about the outrage over the Siege of Leningrad being the fault of folktale characters' infighting in Valente's book? Well, here's one of the bloodiest and "cataclysmic" (Gilmore's word) periods of Russia's history being presented as the fault of Selica, the goddess of Death, and not a very human tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. This epic tale brings both history and folklore to vivid life. It's a fresh, exciting take sure to capture fans of Madeline Miller's Circe and Jennifer Saint's Ariadne” - Publishers Weekly Literary Hub - Baba Yaga Will Answer Your Questions About Life, Love, and Belonging by Taisia Kitaiskaia A fierce, historically rich reimagining of the story of Baba Yaga…full of complicated, three-dimensional women.”

A delicate weaving of myth and history, The Witch and the Tsar breathes new life into stories you think you know’ Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf What are your thoughts on the current popularity of mythological retellings and the importance of their evolution? There is certainly that message because that is what women have had to do for centuries. To hide their wisdom, their intellectual curiosity, their ambitions and interests. Or they were not only branded as witches and sorceresses and other evil beings, but put on trial (both in court and in the arena of public opinion) to defend their beliefs, and their lives. It is another reason why I decided to approach Baba Yaga the way I did: to show a woman who has been unfairly judged by the society of her day simply because she is different in not conforming to its social mores and expectations. When Yaga first comes to Moscow, there is that element of disguise; she knows she must look like she’s conforming because that is survival at Tsar Ivan the Terrible’s court. She then must work very hard throughout the novel to become at peace with herself and to fully embrace being a powerful witch and woman, unapologetically and without disguise. But here's where I start to have a bit of an issue: Baba Yaga is being reimagined as an old but youthful seeming, misunderstood feminist icon trying to learn how to get along in a life that is complicated and strange, butting heads with gods and the Deathless and the earthly powers that be, let alone the encroaching Christianity versus the old gods. Yaga lives deep in the Russian forest, tending to any that call upon her for her healing potions and vast wisdom.

A different perspective on the notorious Slavic fairy tale personage of Baba Yaga. But she isn’t the old, evil hag we know. She is a half goddess, half human healer, but first and foremost, she is a woman. Readers can also expect a real world, as the novel is set in real-life 16th century Russia, with real though fictionalized historical events and characters. And they can also expect lots of romance and adventure in the vein of some of my favorite adventure novels, by Rafael Sabatini, Baroness Orczy, and Alexander Dumas. As she travels to Moscow, Yaga witnesses a sixteenth-century Russia 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.