Beautifully written Russian fairy tale about the power of both fear and courage and about the fight of a young girl for her freedom to choose. Some unexpected turns and twists surprised me as the witch-child Vasya strives to save her people from the dark fear and hunger of winter.

Vasya is a wonderful protagonist, wild, free and with her own sense of how things ought to be. I particularly enjoyed her connection to the horses.

And neither the Winter King nor the priest Konstantin were what I expected.

The stories flows quickly toward the inevitable and still surprising ending.