The Wolf and the Girl

by Aster Glenn Gray

A Little Red Riding Hood retelling set in pre-Revolutionary Russia.

When a wounded wolf collapses on Masha's doorstep, Masha nearly kills it before her grandmother convinces her that this wolf is a transformed human. Once transformed back, the wolf turned out to be Masha's old friend Raisa, who has fallen afoul of a sorceress determined to use her magic to bring revolution to Russia. After a brutal confrontation with the sorceress, Masha and Raisa flee to France. They develop an act that catches the eye of a film director, who casts them in a silent film adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood… which alerts the sorceress to their whereabouts in France. Now the sorceress and her pack are coming for Raisa and Masha again. How can Raisa and Masha defeat their dark magic?

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Novella, LGBT, Historical Fiction, Romance, Retellings

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 25, 2019

About the author

Aster Glenn Gray writes fantasies with a romantic twist, or romances with a fantastic twist. (And maybe other things too. She is still a work in progress.) When she is not writing, she spends much of her time haunting libraries, taking long walks, and doing battle with the weeds that seek to topple her tomato plants.

Reviews

[Drache.... (Angelika) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had loved the author's stunning novel "The Sleeping Soldier" and I adore this book's cover, so obviously I had to read "The Wolf and the Girl".

The story was very different from what I had expected (I hadn't even bothered to read the blurb), but that wasn't a bad thing, on the contrary.
I enjoyed following Masha and Raisa's story. The book's first part in Russia was the best part for me. It was intriguing and captivating.
I admit when Maisha and Raisa got to France I got a bit bored, and the writing didn't grip me anymore. May be a me-thing, though.

[Marquise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had a unique setting and premise for a retelling: Tsarist Russia in 1911, pre- Revolution, and the tale is Little Red Riding Hood, with a good sprinkling of Russian folklore (Baba Yaga and local folktales).

However, I was quite dissatisfied with the delivery. At first, I was delighted not just by the setting but also because this was one of the very, very few non-Russian authors who actually knows how to use patronymics and surnames in Russian correctly and according to gender, as well as knowing well how to use diminutives and nicknames. That's rather rare, most Western authors don't know a thing about Russian feminine/masculine naming conventions. This and the good grasp of the local lore had me thinking it was going to be pretty good.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. Soon, it becomes obvious that the Russia ambiance is barely past window dressing. The author did the research, yes, but didn't go far with it beyond a nice cozy beginning. The problems started when magic made its appearance and characterisation went south with it. For a start, the author chose the Anarchists to be the villains and the Romanovs the good guys. That's fine, I guess . . . until you turn it into a manichaean dichotomy: the Anarchists's leader (the great evil villain) not only is made to be cartoonishly evil and with no other motivation for evil than the sake of power under the guise of "freeing Russia," for which she resorts to a pact with the Devil (literally), and the Romanovs are these so good people that they're protected by a special spell against evil (that's what the book says at one point, really). Essentially, this becomes a battle between the Devil and God through Tatiana Lvovna and Babushka/Masha/Raya as pawns.

I have no problem with Good vs Evil plots, not at all. But I do have a problem with demonising and sanctifying real-life personages for the sake of it, and without just cause. Neither were the anti-monarchists diabolical nor were the tsars saints, so I take issue with this depiction. Honestly, taking into account how crap some factions of the revolutionaries were, you could have still made them into the villains without a need for supernatural involvement. In the immortal words of Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbles: "I'm not sure man needs the help."

I didn't enjoy the wolf-shifter curse aspect, either. I do realise it's extremely hard to retell LRRH without magic, but I also know it can be done, and I keep fruitlessly hoping to find it even when I know I shouldn't. And, lastly, the third aspect I didn't enjoy was the move to France for the second half. I'd have preferred the story stayed in Russia till the end, and preferably also addressed the social issues of the time. I mean, the author did lay the ground for it with the initial commentary on the peasantry's struggles and the aristocracy's privileges, and did make one of the protagonists a revolutionary. So why not stay and do the legwork? Was it just nice decor? Why not finish the thing and expand it, instead of making it just a starting point and something the protagonist has to "repent" of?

Anyway, I'm rating this 3 stars because the beginning is good, because the author made an effort with Russian customs, and because the main pairing are gay, and it's done respectfully and realistically, not fetishicised or thrown in for crowd-pleasing purposes.

[Francesca Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful thing that Aster Glen Gray does in The Wolf and the Girl—which she also did in Briarley—is transpose a fairy tale to a very particular time and place and make you really feel that time and place. For Briarley it was World War II England; for The Wolf and the Girl it’s pre-Revolutionary Russia—and then early-twentieth-century France.

The first part is like a Russian lacquer box—dark, jewel-like, beautiful. As a small child, Masha would be with her Babushka when older village girls came to hear Babushka’s stories and fairy tales. The older girls all went on to better things, and none more so than Raisa, who got a scholarship to university in St. Petersburg. But then Raisa fell in with anarchists and was exiled to Siberia, “which gave the good people of Kostin no end of satisfaction.”

“But they were all so proud when she went to study in St. Petersburg,” Masha protested to Babushka. “Why are they happy it ended like this?”
“Pride and jealousy are two sides of the same coin,” Babushka told her. “If you toss it up in the air, you never know which way it will come down.”

--Just the sort of insight into human nature that I’ve come to expect from this author, and the sort of thing that makes The Wolf and the Girl more than just a fairy tale wearing new clothes.

Not only has Raisa been exiled to Siberia, she’s fallen afoul of an anarchist enchantress. Wounded and bespelled, she finds her way to Masha and Babushka, and the elements of Little Red Riding Hood—transmuted to fit pre-Revolutionary Russian times—play out.

But the story doesn’t end there! There’s a whole next part—for all of us who’ve ever said, “But what comes after the ‘happily ever after’?” (Only in this case, it’s not quite a happily-ever-after—there are situations and exigencies.) And *this* part involves fleeing to France, encountering a friendly theater group, and eventually getting involved in film. There’s still an angry enchantress on the loose, too, so . . . well, it’s an exciting and satisfying ride. I recommend it highly!

[Tijana]

Eto kako nekad dobar koncept ne ispuni očekivanja. Koncept je ovde Crvenkapa u Rusiji početkom dvadesetog veka, s tim što je baka Baba Jaga a vuk nije vuk nego čopor u vukove preobraženih... uh... ruskih anarhista koji su prodali duše đavolu da bi svrgnuli cara? I Crvenkapa pobegne s jednom odmetnutom vučicom u Francusku da bi postala filmska zvezda?
Koncept, dakle, zabavan iako malo nakošen; izvedba... osrednja. Nemam neke posebne zamerke sem da je autorki na pola novelice vidno ponestalo ideja i zamaha, pa se onda sve završilo mnogo kljoknutije nego što je početak obećavao.

[aarya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is strange, but not necessarily in a bad way. No clue how to rate.

[Janine Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 stars.

It is probably too early in 2020 to call this one of the best books of the year but I’m very tempted to do that. This magical little f/f paranormal historical romance and retelling of Little Red Riding Hood was near-perfect.

I have a joint review with Sirius at DA here:

https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/o...

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little different for Aster Glenn Gray. It’s not a romance, for one, although the heroines seem to be heading in that direction at the very end. It’s a play on Little Red Riding Hood set in Tsarist Russia 1911 and there’s a little Baba Yaga thrown in there for fun. The fairytale retelling aspects were fascinating and I really love how she made the story her own. The first part of the story, set in Russia, was the strongest for me. When Masha and Raisa (as a wolf) land in France, the story lost steam and I was less invested. I’m not sure where the disconnect was, possibly because we only ever got Masha’s POV and dialogue and she felt so, so young and immature to me and I tired of her talking to Raisa without ever getting a response back, since Raisa refused to change back into a human until the very end. Still, Gray remains such an interesting writer and I’m glad I read it.

CW: death of grandmother, leg injury, pregnant minor character, beheading in self-defense

[Art Hyrst · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a complete sucker for a Red Riding Hood retelling and a friend of mine loves Aster Glenn Gray's work, so when I saw The Wolf and the Girl, I had to pick it up. It was a quick read at 84 pages and perfectly formed. It's set in pre-revolutionary Tsarist Russia and 1911 France, and especially at the beginning of the novella the setting was a lush and beautiful snowy forest that just completely drew me in. The writing was very atmospheric, and drew in elements of Baba Yaga along with the Red Riding Hood legends.

I would have loved to see this extended to be longer, just because there's so much interesting stuff to see. Raisa's trip to St. Petersburg and how that ended up with her joining the Anarchists and getting turned into a wolf, and I would love to see Raisa and Masha after the fight was over, learning each other as girl and girl instead of girl and wolf.

[lauraღ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“People might bother two girls on their own; but they will think twice about a girl with a wolf.”

A very sweet Little Red Riding Hood retelling with a very interesting set-up and twists, set in turn of the century Russia and France. Makes use of folklore in compelling ways, with strong threads of family and friendship, and a revolutionary backdrop. Quite short, and the fairytale element translates to it being a bit scarce on detail. But I enjoyed it a good deal. No explicit romance, but a very tender f/f friendship at the core.

(Also, very glad I picked this up solely based on the fact that I enjoyed one of the author's books before, and did not read the blurb. I just read it and it gives away far too much imo!)

3.5 stars.

[Eva Müller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had the problem that it had enough plot for at least two full novels, squashed into one short novella. There's Raisa who gets a scholarship to study in St. Petersburg. But after being treated badly by her fellow students because she's always the poor peasant girl to them, she falls in with a group of anarchists which gets her banished to Siberia. And once she realises that the methods her fellow anarchists want to use to bring down the Tsar are too brutal for her, and confronts the leader about it she gets turned into a wolf. That's already a whole book right there (or at least half of a medium-length novel) but that all happens before this novella even starts. We only learn about it later, after she has managed to flee and collapsed in front of the door of her childhood friend. Once said childhood friend has turned her back into a human she tells that whole story on about a page. And I kept thinking that I would have loved to read more about that.

Especially because not much later the leader of the anarchists also turns up, this time to kill Raisa and the confrontation is bone-chillingly creepy, and the whole scene utterly amazing. Up until that point I felt I had read someone's summary of the plot and then I was suddenly holding my breath because the descriptions were so vivid.

And then...rinse. Repeat. Evil anarchist witch has been chased away but not defeated, so Raisa and Masha - the childhood friend - decide to flee but the flight is again described as if it was summed up by a person that wasn't too enthusiastic about the whole story, a few more things happen, and then the evil witch finds them again and again the confrontation is really great but...I would have wanted more set-up. I barely felt connected to the characters for the rest of the book because it was all "And then this happened. And then that happened." without much emotion between it.

On a side note: the author has a weird thing about names. Raisa keeps calling almost all her anarchist friends - with whom she plotted to overthrow the monarchy - by their first name and their patronym which seems quite formal for the occasion and later non-Russian characters are also mostly refered by their first and last name anytime they are mentioned which I also found quite odd.

[Helen Kord · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful surprise. After already adoring Briarley, this book cements Aster Glenn Gray as one of my favourite writers.
Original historical setting (pre-revolutionary Russia and then the film and theatre industry in France), wonderful and loyal characters, fascinating mythology, a really great take on the Red Riding Hood mythos and some hints of a f/f romance, I had a blast reading it, despite being in a really, really deep reading funk right now. My only criticism is that I wish it was longer, because there was enough plot for a full-length novel.
What I appreciated the most was how slav this story is. It's set in authentic fairy tale Russia, with accurate slav realia, food, saints... It made my slav heart so happy. Just ugh, so good, go read it. Give AGG all the money so she can write me more books.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Aster Glenn Gray book. The short length was actually a drawback. Themes weren't explored as much as they could have been. Gorgeous cover. And a clever retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Just needed more pages.

[AGMaynard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done retelling, in which the girl and the wolf travel together and come to love one another on the cusp of revolutionary times in Russia. Villain defeated by smarts, not pitched battle, is a welcome turn.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this retelling of Red Riding Hood! Gray's writing is wonderful and I love her twists on the story!

[Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely retelling, with some genuinely spine-chilling moments

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pro:
– l’ambientazione di inizio Novecento, con rivoluzione russa che sobbolle sotto la superficie e il sorgere dell’industria del cinema, è bellissima e peculiare per la fiaba che vuole essere questa novella
– i personaggi principali sono tutti femminili e diversi tra loro per età, carattere (duuuh) e occupazione
– originale la risoluzione del conflitto principale

Contro:
– non mi è chiaro dove fosse il romance con una delle protagoniste che passa buona parte della storia in forma di lupo, e quando torna in forma umana non si capisce che cosa le leghi (non sembra amore romantico). Si intuisce che forse Raisa aveva un rapporto non proprio platonico con una compagna del gruppo di anarchici ma non so se sono io che volevo vedercelo per trovare almeno una traccia di quelle dinamiche FF che prometteva la storia
– questo pesantissimo per me: le protagoniste sembrano due ragazzine, non due donne sui vent’anni. Masha è descritta all’inizio da bambina, ma poi non sembra mai crescere dall’epoca e non so se sia un’infantilizzazione da “è una contadina ignorantella cresciuta a racconti fantastici” (nonostante abbia lavorato in una casa nobile e si sia occupata della nonna fino alla morte, ma ha un modo di usare il poco francese che sa troppo di bambina che ha scoperto una parola o due nuove e le usa tutta orgogliosa) o se volesse essere un modo di caratterizzarla come carina e dolce… non lo so, non ha funzionato per me. L’unico momento in cui l’ho apprezzata è stata nel confronto finale con Tatiana.
Raisa, invece, ha una backstory interessante (è andata all’uni e si è unita a un gruppo di anarchici per togliere di mezzo lo zar) ma passa poco tempo in forma umana e queste esperienze che ha fatto non hanno alcuna utilità quando è in forma di lupo, nemmeno per me lettrice, se non quella di giustificare il conflitto con Tanya? Bah.

Sono ambivalente, con Briarley avevo avuto la sensazione di una vera fiaba con profondità, anche grazie alle interazioni tra i protagonisti.
Qua? Niente del genere e sinceramente non mi piace aver trovato proprio quello che temo quando mi trovo davanti a un romance FF.

[Sam Hirst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Aster Glenn Gray that I fell in love with. This might be my favourite... but it's so hard to choose! This isn't so much a retelling of Red Riding Hood as a riff on the story and idea. For me the second half in early 20th century France was the stronger and truly felt magical. I love the way Aster explores different types and configurations of relationships and that is particularly true of the relationship in this book between the two female leads, one of whom spends most of the novel transformed.

Highly recommend.

[Shawna (endemictoearth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Briarley was one of my favorite books from last year. I know it's not fair to start a review of one book by talking about how much you loved another book by the same author. However, it does explain the excitement and expectations I had for this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and while it hits some of the same notes for me, I really felt like it could have been longer. It ends sort of abruptly, and I would have loved an epilogue.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - I liked this queer (ff) retelling of little red riding hood set in 1911 Russia (and later France). I enjoyed the ways this story followed and broke with the traditional version I know.

The writing style fits the story and gives it a fairy tale quality but it’s a little emotionally distant. There is a very, very understated ff romance - but I’d say the book reads better as a fairy tale / coming of age story than genre romance.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story about the strength of female friendship (with an undercurrent of more but it's YMMV for sure. If you don't want to see it, you won't.) set in a time when magic and media were first meeting.

Favourite line:
"The film industry is still so very new that no one has told women that we cannot do everything yet."

[Angel Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, but got confusing when author started using several names for all the characters.

[Julia O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet, sapphic retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, with some unique dashes of Russian werewolf folklore mixed in.

[Trigger Warning Database]

Trigger & Content Warnings

Pregnancy mentioned
Physical injury (leg)
Death of a grandmother
Decapitation

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet, fairy tale-esque.

[C.M. Rosens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely Folktale-esque Red Riding Hood retelling

This is a lovely, sweet f/f retelling set in early 20thC Russia and France, where the heroine gets to be plain and stocky and practical, star in a silent film, and live her best life. I loved the folktale style of the first part, and the change of style in the second reflected the change of setting and lifestyle.

It has magic, Russian Orthodoxy and folktales galore, a great creepy necromancy moment, an elegant witch who enjoys monologues, and wolves.

It is also a really quick read (under an hour for me the first time) and perfect for the commute! We read this for book group and I liked it a lot. Just the relaxing, sweet read I needed for my train into work!

[Jaycee Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super unique retelling of Little Red Ridinghood, set against the rich background of revolutionary Russia. This was a short read, with great characterization and a interesting twist on the story, with lovely shades of Baba Yago and other folklore thrown in. I could wish that the hinted-at romantic relationship between Masha and Raisa was more explicit, especially in the end, but overall a very enjoyable novella.