I can't explain why I'm drawn to folktales; perhaps it has something to do with how they migrate and morph, but manage to stick around, caught in our collective psyche, revealing our changing social norms and mores, our hangups and our fears. Or maybe I just love a good story with a bit of magic. Thistlefoot, like all good modern folktales, stands on a well-trod foundation, but feels wholly unique. It is the story of a brother and sister, estranged, brought together by a bequeathment: a house on chicken legs.
Bellatine Yaga, a woodworker living in Vermont, wants this strange, sentient home to herself. Isaac Yaga, her itinerant brother, low on cash, wants to continue running from his past. So they strike a deal. They'll revive their parents' old puppet show, take the house (whom they call Thistlefoot) on the road, and after one year of touring the money will be Isaac's and the house will be Bellatine's. So begins a tale as entertaining as a vaudeville show, a tale told, in part, by the house itself. But a house like Thistlefoot is not without its burdens. The house, and its new occupants, are pursued by a sinister figure who breeds fear and sows chaos. And they will all have to face an ancestral trauma before the tale is done being told.
Thistlefoot is a rollicking road trip story that also demands its readers reckon with the past. It reminds us that history has a tendency to repeat itself and asks us to consider the stories we tell, the memories we hold tight to. And it does all this with a poet's eye for vivid details and evocative language.
If you're intrigued, I'm delighted to inform you that the Norwich Bookstore will be hosting GennaRose Nethercott, the author of this remarkable tale, tonight (Wed Sept 14 at 7pm). Did I mention she travels with a puppet show? Yes, there will be a puppet show.
Emma Nichols co-owns the Norwich Bookstore with her partner Sam Kaas. When not at the bookstore you’ll most likely find her reading books, baking bread, tinkering with spreadsheets, or pulling tarot cards.