Thistlefoot

by GennaRose Nethercott

Publisher: Anchor Books
Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: Fantasy / Science Fiction
Read This If You Love: Neil Gaiman books / American Gods

“Kill the lantern, raise the ghost.”

My husband and I read Thistlefoot as a buddy read, so you will see here our individual reviews. 

Gina’s Take on Thistlefoot

Bellatine and Isaac Yaga live in a mirror world of our own that possesses mystical happenings and powers. Estranged from one another, Bellatine is more comfortable with her carpentry and quiet life and Isaac is a shapeshifting nomad. All that is until they receive an inheritance from a distant ancestor. An inheritance that also comes with being pursued by the Longshadow Man. What does he want and just how dangerous is he? 

Thistlefoot is a dark fairy tale combined with folklore and mixed with modern fantasy. Nethercott masterfully crafts a fantasy world against which she paints the picture of our generational connections to ancestors. While books like The Nightingale use historical fiction to convey meaningful stories of religious atrocities, Thistlefoot achieves many of the same accomplishments, but does so in the genre of fantasy. The idea of bearing witness is prevalent in both novels and many others that tackle such topics. It’s an important one, imo, and I find that books allow us to bear witness to other’s stories, to learn, and to relate. I found the book, writing, and message to be entertaining, touching, and meaningful. 

One main theme of the book is the idea of passing along stories (i.e., folklore) and that all stories are true, which is different than if they are factual. This left me pondering the concept for weeks after I wrapped up reading the book. 

Patrick’s Take on Thistlefoot

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott offers a compelling tale of family, history, memory, and tragedy constructed upon in a mix of fable, fantasy, and magical realism.

The novel reinvents the Slavic folktale of Baba Yaga amidst the wars, revolutions, and pogroms of the early 20th century. We experience this through the siblings Isaac and Bellatine as they reconnect after years of separation. And in their tales, Nethercott develops them wonderfully. We see the siblings grow into their supernatural powers along with coming to better understand each other. Isaac begins as a self-centered loner who finds a real connection with his sister and overcomes a trauma that is unraveled through the course of the story. Bellatine journeys from feeling isolated and alone to embracing her powers as a source of strength--and transforming into a force to be reckoned with and fully confident and in control. And seeds of this growth are throughout the book. Early on, we get a snippet of who Bellatine is: "Her hands will remain unsullied" that is shortly followed by "hands were busy wringing one suspended of her denim overalls like a goose's neck."

Nethercott builds up the stories through many layers and by engaging in present and past scenes. Each layer acts as a new facet through which to view the characters and what they are. This is particularly effective with another critical character: the house, Thistlefoot. Thistlefoot breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader and relies heavily on folklore methods to state a story, but rarely in a straightforward way: “All ways to twist reality in order to tell a deeper, more potent truth.”

Finally, Thistlefoot is a fable and its lesson is: “The fault, I beg you, I beg you, the fault is not our own.” Nethercott has delivered a delightful novel that plumbs the relationships between people, history, and memory.