Novel of the week: East by Edith Pattou

East is based on one of my favorite fairy tales—“East of the Sun, West of the Moon”, originating in a group of Norwegian tales collected by Peter Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe in the late nineteenth century. I admire the strong heroine, the enchantment of the white bear, and the personification of the four winds. Yet somehow I've allowed myself to ignore this novel-length retelling. Finally getting around to reading it this week, I was well rewarded.

When I sat down with East in my hands, I looked forward to seeing how Edith Pattou would treat the elements of the original tale. Although she eliminates one of my favorites—the personification of the four winds—she introduces many details which complement the story well. For example, Pattou uses compass points as a motif. The protagonist, Rose, comes from a family of mapmakers, her mother is superstitiously concerned with which direction mothers face during childbirth, and her father draws a compass rose for each of his children. There is lots of adventure in this story, including a sea voyage on a Viking ship and a journey across Greenland by foot, kayak, and ski.

Pattou provides yards of background to fill in between the lines of the original story. She describes the trolls’ culture and location in the Arctic, why the troll princess kidnapped the human prince, and how the enchantment was made by the troll king. She attends to every detail, such as inventing a drink called slank that enables the humans to survive in the brutal cold. I constantly marveled as she blended her own creations flawlessly with the original short tale.