The Bear and the Nightingale

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal cruelty, religious discrimination, child death, sexual violence, and child abuse.

Father Konstantin Nikonovich is exiled from Moscow by the Metropolitan Aleksei, as the priest represents a threat to the soon-to-be crowned prince Vladimir after his father’s death. Aleksei sends Konstantin to Lesnaya Zemlya to replace the deceased Father Semyon, where he quickly establishes his authority through fiery sermons that warn of the wrath of God. Vasya, now 14, is increasingly at odds with the priest’s teachings and the changes he brings to the village. Her defiance of Konstantin and Anna escalates, with Anna beating her for disrupting a church service with crickets.

Konstantin’s disdain for the village turns into a fervent mission to root out what he perceives as demonic influences. Vasya, in particular, unsettles him, as she seems to have a strange insight into him and does not act as he believes a girl should. Desperate for salvation from the demons she sees everywhere, Anna becomes Konstantin’s willing follower. The priest’s magnetic presence causes the villagers to abandon their traditional reverence toward nature and the household spirits. Vasya watches with dread as the balance between the old and new ways unravels.