East (novel)

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East (also known as North Child in the UK) is a 2003 novel by the author Edith Pattou. It is an adaptation of an old Norwegian folk tale entitled "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" and is an ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults. The novel is written in a style similar to that of Brian Jacques, including the use of a change in point of view in each chapter.

1 Plot summary
2 Characters
3 Errors
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

When Arne married the superstitious Eugenia, he agreed to have seven children with her, one for each point of the compass, excluding North, which she believed to be wild and vulgar. Her favourite child, East-born Elise, died very young and Eugenia had another child to replace her. But Rose turned out to be a North-born child. Eugenia was told years before by a fortune teller that any North Child she had would die crushed beneath snow and ice.

Rose grows up believing herself to be an East like her dead sister, but is unhappy that she is expected to be a replacement for Elise. Nonetheless she could not curb her adventurous nature and when she was very young, she fell into the river and was rescued by a mysterious White Bear, who watched her ever afterwards. Since then, Rose took her imagination on adventures across the world on the back of a White Bear, and in time also became an accomplished weaver.

One evening, when Rose's family is destitute and her elder sister lay dying, the White Bear appears and asks that he be allowed to take Rose. If they agree, the family would no longer be poor and the sick daughter would be made well. He gives them seven days to decide, but Rose's father is already determined he will not give her up. Her mother is excited by the promises of the White Bear and tries to persuade her husband to agree to his bargain. Rose listens to their arguments and learns that she is not an East, but a North child. She knows her destiny is to go away and decides to leave with the White bear. When the White Bear arrives a week later, she goes with him. Though her father and brother try to stop her, her mother tells them to leave her. "It is her direction. Her choice."

The White Bear takes Rose to a hidden castle in the mountains of Fransk(France) and there she lives for months on end with a couple of mysterious servants, a woman and her son who are both pale with rough skin and a strange language. She later discovers that they are Trolls. She passes the time by weaving or learning to play the musical instruments, but never goes outside. At night, she has a mysterious visitor who comes into her room and lies in the bed beside her, but a mysterious enchantment takes hold and she cannot see or even speak to him. She believes it is the White Bear, who has cast off his fur and is cold, and so she makes a shirt for him. She is not sure why she was brought to the castle and tries to find some answers from one of the trolls named Tuki. They play a game where they say the name of objects in their own language. Unfortunately, everytime she tries to ask about the white bear, Tuki runs off scared. After many months in the castle, Rose becomes homesick and the White Bear reluctantly allows her to return home for a visit. Her family is happy to have her home and she speaks in private with her brother Neddy about the strange happenings of her nighttime visitor, which the white bear had warned her against doing. Rose's mother, Eugenia, overhears and gives Rose an enchanted candle to use. When Rose returns to the castle, she uses the candle and at last sees the face of a young man lying beside her. In her shock, she wakes him as she spills tallow onto his shirt. At once, the castle disappears and Rose is left alone with the young man. He explains that he was stolen from his home by the Queen of the Trolls and changed into a White Bear by her angry father. If he could find a young maiden who would live with him for a year without seeing his human face, he would have been free. Now he must go with the Troll Queen forever. At this, the man is whisked away by a white sledge.

Rose is determined to find and save him. Her journey takes her through Fransk (France) all the way up to the Arctic, in search of the place that is East of the sun and West of the moon. At last, she arrives at the Palace of the Trolls, Niflheim. She works as a servant or 'softskin' for many months, before she learns that the White Bear is to marry the Troll Queen. With the help of the Troll boy from the castle, Tuki, she disguises herself and approaches the White Bear at a ball, trying to get him to remember her. But his memory has been all but erased from the poison the Troll Queen has been feeding him, and Rose flees the city believing him to truly love the Troll Queen. When she reaches the outskirts of the city, she discovers a group of frozen corpses in a field called knetta murha, softskins who had been turned out to die in the cold when they were no longer useful. Sure that the same thing would happen to the White Bear, Rose turns back to the city and hides among the guests at the wedding. By now, the White Bear has remembered Rose and how to escape the Troll Queen.

He asks his bride, the Queen, to wash a shirt for him, saying that in his homeland whosoever could complete the task would be fit to be his wife. He produces the shirt that Rose spilt tallow on, the Queen cannot clean it, so Rose tries and succeeds. In her fury, the Queen destroys the Ice Palace and wipes out the Trolls. Rose and the White Bear along with forty Softskin slaves escape the city.

On the journey home, the White bear reveals that he cannot remember who he was before he was changed and decides to leave quietly on a journey to find out. He returns to the castle in the mountain and Rose follows him. She tells him at last that she loves him, and he reveals his name to her. Prince Charles Pierre Philippe. They are married after this and have four children (two of them are not mentioned). The oldest is named Tuki. It is also revealed that they have a child named Nena who, like Rose, is also a north born.

[edit] Characters

Rose: a North born child, wild and adventurous. The protagonist of the story, an independent young girl with a wanderlust and curiosity that is surpassed by few. She was prophesied to die, crushed under snow and ice. She was set to be an East-born by her mother Eugenia, but it didn't turn out as planned. Despite this, Eugenia calls her Ebba, because she was "facing East when the birthing began." Her name that her father secretly calls her by is Nyamh.

Charles/Myk/White Bear: a prince who is stolen from his home by the Troll Queen and transformed into the White Bear. A mystical, intelligent bear, who whisks Rose away to a magnificent castle. He has several names through out this book though his real name is Charles.

Neddy Wilfrid: Rose's elder brother, a North-West child. He is the youngest son of Arne and Eugenia and the second youngest child. He is a bit more conservative than she, and loves his sister deeply.

Arne/Father: Rose's father, a mapmaker. Said to be a Southeast-born.

Eugenia: Rose's mother, a very superstitious East-born woman.

Troll Queen: The antagonist, who lives in the north pole/the land of the dead. She loves the bear, and often meddles with "softskins". A jealous queen who falls in love with Charles and steals him from his home.

Tuki: a Troll boy who makes friend's with Rose and helps her find Charles. One of Rose's children is named after him at the end of the book.

Urda: Tuki's mother and servant of the mountain castle.

Malmo: A shaman woman who helps Rose find the Troll city.

Sofi: A French woman living outside the mountain castle.

Estelle: Sofi's daughter.

Thor: A drunken captain with a love for rum who helps Rose reach the North.

Gest and Goran: Two sailors who work for Thor. When a storm comes, Goran and Gest are thrown overboard. Goran drowns, but Gest survives.

Sara: Rose's older sister who gets sick, a South-born. She marries the man who owned their house.

Nena: One of Rose's children at the end of the book. She was a North-born, just like her mother.

Elise: Rose's older (and deceased) sister, who was an East-born, like Eugenia. She'd died when she was eight, according to the book. Her mother had a fondness for her, and tried to have Rose be an East like Elise, but Rose ended up a North-born.

Nils Erlend: Rose's oldest brother, the first born. He was a Northeast-born. He moved to Danemark (Denmark).

Selme Eva: Rose's oldest sister, after Elise's death. She was a Southeast-born. She'd married an ironworker and moved to a distant Njord (Norway) village.

Sonja Wende: Another of Rose's older sisters, a Southwest-born.

Willem: Rose's second-to-youngest brother (before Neddy). He was a West-born. When the family moved to Trondheim, he stayed behind.

[edit] Errors

In East, it was said that Sara, "the third eldest, fell ill." (Pattou 69) Apparently, The birthing order for Eugenia went from Northeast to Northwest, later joined by North, starting with Nils Erlend (1), Elise (2), Selme Eva (3), Sara (4), Sonja Wende (5), Willem (6), Neddy Wilfrid (7), and Ebba/Nyamh Rose (8). This would biologically make Sara the fourth oldest, counting Elise. However, since Elise is deceased, she is not considered, thereby making Sara the third living eldest.