In Relation To East

In East, a book by Edith Pattou, Rose is a farm girl who has always been a wanderer. She thought nothing of climbing over a stone wall and falling down a waterfall when she was two. Now her family is in financial ruin, and her sister Sara is dying. Then a visit from a mysterious white bear changes everything. The bear offers to heal Sara and secure the family's fortunes - if Rose will go away with him. Rose agrees, and is carried off by him to his castle. After a few months, Rose begins to wonder about her host and the castle he lives in. Is the bear more animal than human or more human than animal? And who - or what - crawls into the far side of her bed every night when the lights go out?

Pros: I know I say this about everything, but I really like the hero and the heroine. The story is very unusual too, and takes place in Norway (at least, I think "Nordjen" is Norway). The first time I read this book, I was glued  to the pages for hours; it was a very unusual and pretty suspenseful Beauty and the Beast tale! Also, there are quite a few places where the authoress could have made the book sleazy, but it's perfectly clean.

Cons: Okay, the superstitions about birth direction and everything were a little annoying. Also, the parts of the story written by the white bear were exceedingly worthless. At least, the parts at the beginning of the book...

My Rating: OK (someone sleeping in Rose's bed at night)