Baba Yaga Laid an Egg“Multilayered narratives come together as an exploration of femininity, identity, mortality, and folklore’s wondrous powers.” —Booklist According to Slavic myth, Baba Yaga is a witch who lives in a house built on chicken legs and kidnaps small children. In Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, internationally acclaimed writer Dubravka Ugresic takes the timeless legend and spins it into a fresh and distinctly modern tale of femininity, aging, identity, and love. With barbed wisdom and razor-sharp wit, Ugresic weaves together the stories of four women in contemporary Eastern Europe: a writer who grants her dying mother’s final wish by traveling to her hometown in Bulgaria, an elderly woman who wakes up every day hoping to die, a buxom blonde hospital worker who’s given up on love, and a serial widow who harbors a secret talent for writing. Through the women’s fears and desires, and their struggles against invisibility, Ugresic presents a brilliantly postmodern retelling of an ancient myth that is infused with humanity and the joy of storytelling. “Ugresic’s postmodern take on myth, femininity, and aging provides a beautifully written window into Slavic literature.” —Publishers Weekly |
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Arnoš Kozeny asked Beba asked Kukla author’s Baba Yaga balcony bath beautiful Beba Beba and Kukla Beba’s birds body boot Bosnian breasts Bulgarian called child comb Croatian croupier Czech daughter dead death doll door Dr Topolanek dreams everything eyes face father felt female folklore girl’s goddess golden Goli Otok hair hand head hen’s legs hero human invisible Ivan the Fool Ježibaba Koshchey Kukla little girl lived longer looked male massage Mevlo Mevludin Mokosh Montenegrins mortar mother mouth mythical never nose old lady old woman painting parrot Pavel Zuna people’s Pupa Pupa’s ritual Russian fairytales Serbian sexual Shaker Slavic Slavic languages Slavic mythology smile symbolic tale there’s things thought turned Varna Vassilisa Vladimir Propp Wawa What’s Willowy women words Yaga’s young man’s Zagreb Zorana Zuna