When an ancient bear made of gold is found walled up in a dilapidated St Petersburg bathhouse, three people are drawn into a journey along the frozen pathways of Russia's primitive and terrible mythology.
Researcher Daniel St Clare and his colleague Em Hayward set out to verify the age of the artifact, but in the deep of night they somehow part ways with reality, finding themselves set adrift in a landscape stalked by revenants, water spirits and the sorceress Baba Yaga. Lost and exhausted, they turn north in hopes that the Snow Witch, queen of this land, will help them. Daniel's lost love, Rosa Kovalenka, knows the only way to save him is to seek help from the Chenchikov family. But their home, deep in the forests which border the two worlds, is a shadowy tangle of grief, desire and treachery.
Only Papa Grigory seems to have the knowledge they all need to survive. But can he be trusted to tell the truth? What horrors may be unleashed if the Snow Witch finally gets her hands on the golden bear she covets so desperately?
