If someone were to ask me to name two elements that would make me instantly want to read a novel, my answer would include Baba Yaga folklore and puppets. So when poet GennaRose Nethercott’s debut novel, Thistlefoot, popped up on NetGalley, I screamed with delight. And look at that gorgeous cover! How could anyone resist?

In Thistlefoot, we follow siblings Bellatine and Isaac Yaga; the former a practical woodworker, the latter a charming hobo with a knack for impressions. The two come into their inheritance, which happens to be a house on chicken legs, one former witchy owner. The Yagas come from a family of puppeteers, and Bellatine and Isaac take their newly-acquired house on tour as a sort of travelling theatre. However, after a chance encounter with a strange man in a bar, it becomes apparent that someone wants to destroy this incredible house, and the Yagas go on the run from evil forces they cannot begin to understand.

I loved this book. What an exciting adventure. I was sucked in right from the start by Isaac and Bellatine. Isaac is a supernaturally talented guy, with some heavy emotional baggage. And Bellatine’s battle to stifle her inherited talents, and desperately appear “normal” in incredibly relatable.

Nethercott’s ability to create such vivid images is beautiful. The Yaga House is a central character in Thistlefoot, and I felt the warm glow of the unconventional abode from the moment it emerged from its shipping container. And all this is complemented by elements of Jewish folklore, and some genuinely heartbreaking moments.

At its heart, Thistlefoot is a story about stories, and about how nothing or no one is ever really forgotten, as long as people share stories. This message is especially poignant right now, when people seem intent on stifling stories that do not align with their “values”.

I loved this book, and I think you will too. Now, who do I speak to about adapting Thistlefoot into a stop-motion animated TV series?

In this folk story retelling you find yourself in a present-day fable that is poignant and lasting. The story of Baba Yaga gains new life with the Yaga siblings. An odd pair, with even odder talents, finds they are squarely met with their ancestral past all wrapped up in a fairly large shipping container. Will this modern fairy tale sweep me off my feet? Let’s find out.

Read if you like: retellings and reimaginings, complicated characters, modern folk tales, stories for the soul, generational tales, darkly whimsical stories.

The Yaga siblings have chosen very different paths for their lives but they are united in straying from both the family business and their particularly untraditional upbringing. It seems that might be the only remaining connection between them until they both receive notice of an unexpected inheritance.

We follow Isaac and Bellatine Yaga, along with Thistlefoot, as their lives are instantly and soon to be irrevocably changed in a dark, epic adventure that spans generations. The pair are contradictory in most things and their perspectives lend different energies to the tale in a way that keep the past and the present relevant.
Thistlefoot, the chicken-legged house, provides a rather interesting perspective straight from its timeless consciousness. With it we learn the historical and mythological origins of the Yaga family while providing both scope and humor. Yes, the chicken house is the brooding, hilarious sidekick.

But before the siblings can begin to truly appreciate their unique acquisition, they realize that something has been tracking the house. Something that leaves ruin in its wake. The Longshadow Man is out to destroy the magical house. Which leaves us wondering what secrets the walls hold and what it will take to uncover them.
I loved this book more than I can say. It’s beautiful. I can say that the cover completely undersells the magnificent work you will find within the words. The story isn’t written; it’s built and you can live in it. I wish I could give it more stars. Thistlefoot deserves to shine.

It is darkly whimsical and all too real at times. No punches are being pulled as violent history becomes clear in its echoes through time and merges with magic that transforms people into manifestations of lost narratives. The undercurrent is swift and pressing. You know something is coming and it isn’t going to be sweet and savory, it will be better. Better because it is truth. And what is more magical than that?

Everyone should read this book. I don’t know if everyone will like it, but you should read it nonetheless. I would be comfortable giving this to a mature teenager with a discerning mind. Who can navigate the frivolous attitude of Isacc with firm understanding that his life while idealistic, is not in fact, ideal. There are some crass moments and language, but it crass in the way that life often is. This book seeks truth in the darkness and may we all feel that Embering as we search.

I’m sitting here, just having finished Thistlefoot, and my head is filled with the beauty of this wonderful book. I’m at a loss for words.

Thistlefoot takes the Russian legend of Baba Yaga, and turns that story into one of Jewish origins. Issac and Bellatine Yaga are siblings who inherit the legendary house of Baba Yaga, the house on chicken legs, from their great great grandmother, who kept the house in storage Ukraine for seventy years and bequeathed it to the youngest Yagas. The siblings grew up in a household that gave puppet shows, and the pair decides to take the house on a tour and recreate the puppet shows they gave in their childhood. Both Isaac and Bellatine have their issues, and as the book progresses, we learn their backstories, and also that of the house and the puppets. They are also pursued by the Longshadow Man, a mysterious figure who followed the house from Ukraine, and who seems bent on the destruction of Yaga’s house, for reasons unknown.

I reveled in the excellence of the writing. There are moments of sheer beauty in the book that just took my breath away. The plot is solid well constructed, and the characters are some of the most finely drawn personalities I’ve ever encountered in a novel. They truly came to life. And the ending…let’s just say it blew me away and left me in tears.

Without a doubt, Thistlefoot is one of the best books I’ve read recently.

My gratitude goes out to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, and to Netgalley, for providing me an ARC of this excellent novel.

Thistlefoot is a treat in literature. I love the way that GennaRose Nethercott wove in mythical and historical elements. I learned new things and enjoyed a story in the process.