A touch of The Bear and the Nightingale,a bit of Juniper & Thornand a sense of wonder and adventure makes up this lyrical debut fantasy of a young woman in search of a homeand a home in search of people to make it feel lived in. Marisha’s time is running out. She’s already lost her family to the sleeping plagueand she fears she’ll be next. Penniless and desperate for protectionMarisha is forced to accept a job as apprentice to the notorious koldunyathe sorceress Baba Zima. But Baba Zima is renowned for being both clever and cruel. And most difficult of all is her current apprenticeOlenawho wants nothing to do with Marisha. Despite her fears and Olena’s cold demeanorMarisha finds herself drawn into the magical world of koldunry and delves further into Olena’s research–a cure for the sleeping plague. Accompanying Olena on an increasingly dangerousseemingly impossible search for a cureshe finds hidden connections between the sleeping plagueher own family’s historyand her bizarrerecurring dreams: dreams of a masked ball where the deep sleepers are trapped endlessly dancing–and a monstrous beaked man who haunts her every step . . .