** spoiler alert ** Genre: retold folktales, romance,
Summary: The lass is a disappointment to her mother, the fourth girl of nine children. She grows up without a name, always called "the lass" or "pika". One day a white reindeer comes through the village and everyone tries to capture it in hope of a reward. The girl finds the reindeer caught in some brambles, she saves it and receives a name and the gift to understand animals. Her family gets by well enough until one day, a white bear comes into her family's house asking for her go with him. She agrees once the bear promises to bless her family. The bear (isbjorn) is cursed by a troll queen. If he can get a maiden to share his home for one year and a day, then he will be set free from the curse. The lass's curiosity gets the better of her and she uses a candle to see the mysterious nightly visitor. He discovers her mistake and is taken away by the troll queen. The lass must use all of her bravery and with the help of the four winds to get to the place east of the sun, west of the moon, out-trick the sneaky troll queen and save her prince.
Response: I loved this story, probably more than the average person because this is a Scandinavian folktale, the Norwegian version of "Beauty and the Beast" and I dearly love Norway. The author apparently is familiar with the Norwegian language because the book is sprinkled with bits of culture and language from the land of the midnight sun. I love, love this book.