“Romantic and blood-streaked and infused with magic so real you can feel it on your fingertips” is how Cory Doctorow described Deathless, a new novel by Peaks Island’s own Catherynne Valente.

Of Deathless, Catherynne blogs “I think this is my best adult book to date, I really do. There is so much love in it, and so much hope… it is a retelling of Marya Morevna and Koschei the Deathless set during the Stalinist era and the siege of Leningrad. It is a return to fairy tales and the retellings of them. But it is also probably the funniest book I’ve ever written, (if you like dark humor)… I am proud of it. I am afraid of it. I hope I have done well by the story, by Leningrad, by Russia and Koschei and Baba Yaga and Marya and all of them. I hope I have done right by you.”

“Cat” and her husband, Dmitri, had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the setting of her book on their honeymoon – walking the streets where characters lived and exploring the history of the Siege.

Catherynne will be at our beloved Longfellow Books today Thursday, April 28th at 7:00 pm to read from her latest novel – a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death. It brings Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation. Catherynne will also be signing books! Don’t miss it.