There’s an extraordinary amount packed into this novel-romance, grief, magic, humor, danger, and battles for self-acceptance-and it’s a feat that somehow all of those threads get their due readers will leave contemplative, relieved, and likely interested in a reread to catch more of the early details, knowing what they learned by the end. Porter takes the bones of the Russian folktale “Vassilissa the Beautiful” and adds creative, compelling details to make it work for a much older audience, placing it in an imagined New York. Vassa’s life and emotions are a mess, but she knows she’s pretty much screwed unless she applies every bit of intelligence she’s got to her next three nights, so she dives in, taking help from Erg to save her skin and, if possible, her city. Vassa is sent out on a deadly mission to get lightbulbs as a convenience store, BY, is the only one open at night and is known for beheading shoplifters and perhaps others for pure entertainment.

It’s clear right away these aren’t even or fair odds as impossible tasks keep popping up, but Vassa’s got Erg, whose bold, sassy attitude won’t allow for even a hint of self-pity or hopelessness. In spite of her cleverness, Vassa does indeed nearly get caught shoplifting after being tricked in the store, and she’s trapped into making a deal with Babs (of course, the formidable and fascinating Baba Yaga) to stay and work three nights to earn her freedom. At least she has the foresight to bring along Erg, a tiny magical doll that has been her constant companion since her mother died. But Babs won’t be playing fair.Vassa knows that heading into a cavorting, blindingly bright convenience store surrounded by heads on stakes is a terrible idea, but she does it anyway. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.īut Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters - and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling away again could become an issue. In Vassas neighbourhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling out again could become. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now - but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood. In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived.

Vassa in the night