History Literature / East

* ThemeNaming: The first letter of each of Eugenia's children's names is that of a direction on a map, e.g. Neddy Wilfred (North West), Sara (South), and Willem (West).

* DeadGuyJunior: Rose names her firstborn son after [[spoiler:Tuki]].

* GrimUpNorth: Rural 16th-century Norway is no picnic already, but then Rose's journey takes her all the way to Greenland, where she has to struggle to get to Niflheim through the snow and ice and terrible snowstorms. Even after the trolls are defeated, it is very hard to return to civilization because the snow and ice haven't gone anywhere.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: After leaving Rose, Malmo climbs up a hilltop and disappears, while Rose sees a bird flying up from the same place. She briefly wonders whether Malmo turned into a bird or simply slid down the other side of the hill.

* ThemeNaming: The first letter of each of Eugenia's children's names is that of a direction on a map, e.g. Neddy Wilfred (North West), Sara (South), and Willem(West).

* DubNameChange: In the Russian translation, the ThemeNaming in Eugenia's family is based on the traditional nautical terms for directions, which in Russian are borrowed from Dutch. It allows the "N"s and "W"s to keep their names, but "S" gets replaced with "Z", turning Sara into Zara, and "E" with "O", leading to the largest changes (Eugenia becomes Olda, Elise becomes Olivia, and Ebba becomes Oriana).

* TheFairFolk: The trolls. They have magical powers, long lifespans, and a secret, near-inaccessible homeland. And they abduct humans for slave labor. They are a bit uglier than the standard example: even though they look beautiful, their rough skin and rough voices bring them straight into UncannyValley.

* EthnicMage: Malmo, an Inuit female shaman, is the only human with unambiguously magical powers we encounter.

* ThemeNaming: The first letter of each of Eugenia's children's names is that of a direction on a map, e.g. Neddy Wilfred (North West), Sara (South), and Wilhelm (West).

* WhyCouldnYouBeDifferent: Eugenia wanted a gentle, obedient girl to replace her beloved Elise. Instead, she got the wild and unpredictable Rose. It takes her a really long while to accept the fact.

* AdaptationExpansion: With almost 500 pages, Pattou manages to seamlessly expand on the heroine's family, journey (now including the French and Inuit), and everything else. The sewing, reindeer, [[spoiler:human slaves]], and about a fifth of the book were [[ShownTheirWork all Pattou]].

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Because [[spoiler:the Troll Queen engineered a way for Rose to violate Charles' CurseEscapeClause]].
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:The white bear, also known as Myk the troll captive, also known as Charles the 150-year-old kidnapped French prince]].
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played straight with [[spoiler: [[BalefulPolymorph Charles]]]] and Rose, even if she envies her sisters' more willowy forms. Subverted with the Troll Queen, who is as beautiful as a glacier while capable of "[[{{Yandere}} love]]"... and incredibly selfish [[spoiler: sociopathy]].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[OurTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]]. [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Where]] to [[ValuesDissonance start]] with the [[TheFairFolk Trolls]]?

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The shirt that Rose makes for Charles from bear fur.]]
* {{Curse}}: [[spoiler:Charles was forced to spend 150 years as the white bear, and unless he could meet the requirements to break the curse, he would belong to the Troll Queen.]]
* CurseEscapeClause: See above, which is straight from the original story.
** Tack on the prophesy that any north-born child of Rose's mother would "die buried in an avalanche of ice and snow." Cue 4/5 of the story later, where Rose [[spoiler:is buried under a collapsed troll ice palace... with Charles, who digs them out.]] Rose's mother explains that this is [[spoiler:"[[FantasticReligiousWeirdness due to the mitigating factor of being in proximity to a talking white bear.]]"]] Though it's likely [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions nobody else believes it]].
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Slavery and ''kentta murha''. Then again, even [[spoiler: Tuki]] isn't too big a fan of ''kentta murha.'' Of course, the whole mess really starts when the white bear offers Rose's family an end of their [[DiabolusExMachina many troubles]] in return for... well... Rose.
* {{Determinator}}: Rose's quest takes her from Norway to [[spoiler: France to Norway to the Arctic Circle... and ''back'']]. At least part of that journey is done via old Viking boat and kayak, but then there's the majority done on ''foot.''
* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: Soren]] serves as this for [[spoiler: Rose's family]], especially since all of them (except Eugenia) refuse to believe that the white bear had anything to do with it.

* EvilOldFolks: Making a little girl pay her a basket of chanterelle mushrooms to use the spare loom she has no use for, especially since it has to be repaired first? Maybe not evil, but at least [[{{Jerkass}} extremely selfish and cranky]], Widow Hautzig. Then there was the way she encouraged [[spoiler: Euguenia's superstitiousness]], but not as bad... [[spoiler: except when it led them to the mysterious shopkeeper with enchanted candles]].
** [[Really700YearsOld The Troll Queen]] could [[OurTrollsAreDifferent also]] count.
* TheFairFolk: The trolls. They have magical powers, long lifespans, and a secret, near-inaccessible homeland. And they abduct humans for slave labor. They are a bit uglier than the standard example.
* GratuitousForeignLanguage
* HalfTruth: [[spoiler:Rose was indeed buried in snow and ice, but the white bear was there to dig her out.]]
* HornyVikings: Thor, who helps Rose travel North.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: [[spoiler: [[{{Yandere}} The Troll Queen]] is [[SmugSnake absolutely giddy]] over winning the white bear [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe as her husband]].]]
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The ''slank'' which the trolls were giving their human slaves to keep them docile [[spoiler:and which the Troll Queen was giving Charles.]]

* ManChild: Most of the Trolls we meet. While this trait makes Tuki endearing, the Troll Queen is instead a very dangerous enemy.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Rose uses the candle her mother gave her to see the white bear for who he really was, unknowingly screwing up his last chance of breaking the curse.]]
* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: Even among a 16th century-ish Norwegian farming family, Eugenia and her mother are considered almost absurdly superstitious. Even when they're visited by a talking white bear.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: [[spoiler:The ring that Charles gives Rose before he is taken away, which turns out to be proof of his heritage as part of the French monarchy.]]
* ThePowerOfLove: enables teenage girls to [[spoiler: chase evil magic Troll Queens all the way to the Arctic Circle, and the LoveInterest to snap at least partially out of drug-induced amnesia and conditioning.]] Unlike some examples, this is realistic thanks to Rose's farm girl upbringing/body type/lots of help and [[spoiler: Charles being taken off the ''rauha'' slank for most of the past week]].
* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler:Charles, son of Charles VI, spent 150 years as the white bear as part of his curse.]]
** The Troll Queen was a little girl 150 years ago. She's no less selfish now, though.

* ShownTheirWork: Everything from day-to-day Norwegian farm life in the 16th Century to ''[[GratuitousForeignLanguage Norsk]]'' and French history are naturally integrated into the narrative. Which works to translate a [[Literature/EastOfTheSunWestOfTheMoon Norwegian folk tale]] into RealLife.
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Tuki]] serves as this for [[spoiler: Rose against the Troll Queen]]. That adorable, fairly childish [[spoiler: Troll boy]]? Let's [[spoiler:accidentally let him make friends with the human girl, then let him play companion to the drugged-up groom]]. WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

* ThemeNaming: The first letter of each of her children's names is that of a direction on a map, e.g. Neddy Wilfred (North West), Sara (South), and Wilhelm (West).
* WhatMeasureIsANonhuman: Inverted. What measure are the [[spoiler: drugged, amnesiac human slaves the trolls use]]?
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler:When the Troll Queen takes Charles back to her kingdom after he becomes human permanently, she immediately starts drugging him in order to make him forget his time as the white bear.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: Eugenia's mother, while madly superstitious herself, feels that Eugenia crosses the line with her meticulous planning of her children's birth directions.

* LastMinuteHookup: Downplayed; while not exactly in the "last minute", [[spoiler:Harald and Sara]] announce their engagement out of the blue rather late in the second half of the novel. Justified, since neither is a [=POV=] character and their relationship has little impact on the plot, we don't get to see their interactions with each other.

* IllGirl: Sara

Many years later, one of her older sisters gets sick, the first in a series of unfortunate events that leave the family worried about their future. One stormy night, a white bear comes to their house, promising to somehow fix things if they will let him have Rose. She agrees, traveling with him to a castle hidden in the mountains, and for a while everything goes all right, until Rose's curiousity turns out to be her undoing. Determined to set things right, she sets off for the land "east of the sun and west of the moon" to rescue her white bear once and for all.

* AdaptationExpansion: With almost 500 pages, Pattou manages to seamlessly expand on the heroine's family, journey (now including the French and Inuit), and everything else. The sewing, reindeer, [[spoiler: human slaves]], and about a fifth of the book were [[ShownTheirWork all Patou]].

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Because [[spoiler: the Troll Queen engineered a way for Rose to violate Charles' CurseEscapeClause]].
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler: the white bear, also known as Myk the troll captive, also known as Charles the 150-year-old kidnapped French prince]].
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played straight with [[spoiler: [[BalefulPolymorph Charles]]]] and Rose, even if she envies her sisters' more willowy forms. Subverted with the Troll Queen, who is as beautiful as a glacier while capable of "[[{{Yandere}} love]]"... and incredibly selfish [[spoiler: socioapathy]].

** Tack on the prophesy that any north-born child of Rose's mother would "die buried in an avalanche of ice and snow." Cue 4/5 of the story later, where Rose [[spoiler: is buried under a collapsed troll ice palace... with Charles, who digs them out.]] Rose's mother explains that this is [[spoiler: "[[FantasticReligiousWeirdness due to the mitigating factor of being in proximity to a talking white bear.]]"]] Though it's likely [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions nobody else believes it]].

* DiabolusExMachina: Plenty of hard trouble for one farming family,and none of their neighbors. Poor harvests, sick Sara, eviction... for the times, this would have been dangerously close to a [[AdultFear worst-case senario]].

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: Even among a 16th Century-ish Norwegian farming family, Eugenia and her mother are considered almost absurdly superstitious. Even when they're visited by a talking white bear.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Tuki]] serves as this for [[spoiler: Rose against the Troll Queen]]. That adorable, fairly childish [[spoiler: Troll boy]]? Let's [[spoiler: accidentally let him make friends with the human girl, then let him play companion to the drugged-up groom]]. WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

* ThemeNaming: The first letter of each of her childrens' names is that of a direction on a map, e.g. Neddy Wilfred (North West), Sara (South), and Wilhelm (West).

''East'' by Edith Pattou is a retelling of "Literature/EastOfTheSunAndWestOfTheMoon". Ebba (actually Nyamh) Rose, was first conceived as a replacement due to her deceased east-born older sister, Elise, but in a twist of fate ends with her being a north-born child. Her mother is upset, due to her family's beliefs about north-born people being wild and generally ill-behaved, not to mention the prophecy about any north-born child she has dying buried in snow and ice, and so decides to pretend that Rose was a east-born child in the hopes of averting it. However, nature wins out over nurture time and again, and Rose proves to be very much not like Elise.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Trolls in this novel are beautiful humanoids with rough skin, equally gruff voices, and the ability to use magic.

* OurTrollsAreDifferent: Beautiful, pale magic folk with rough skin and voices like gravel. Who live at the poles.

''East'' by Edith Pattou is a retelling of "Literature/EastOfTheSunAndWestOfTheMoon". Ebba (actually Nyamh) Rose, was first conceived as a replacement due to her deceased east-born older sister, Elise, but a twist of fate ends with her being a north-born child. Her mother is upset, due to her family's beliefs about north-born people being wild and generally ill-behaved, not to mention the prophecy about any north-born child she has dying buried in snow and ice, and so decides to pretend that Rose was a east-born child in the hopes of averting it. However, nature wins out over nurture time and again, and Rose proves to be very much not like Elise.

ManChild: Most of the Trolls we meet. While this trait makes Tuki endearing, the Troll Queen is instead a very dangerous enemy.

* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Older Sister]]: Elise.

* ValuesDissonance: Slavery and ''kentta murha''. Then again, even [[spoiler: Tuki]] isn't too big a fan of ''kentta murha.'' Of course, the whole mess really starts when the white bear offers Rose's family an end of their [[DiabolusExMachina many troubles]] in return for... well... Rose.

** The Troll Queen was a little girl 150 years ago. She's no less [[AdultChild selfish]] now, though.

* AdultChild: Most of the Trolls we meet. While this trait makes Tuki endearing, the Troll Queen is instead a very dangerous enemy.

* Chekov'sGun: [[spoiler:The shirt that Rose makes for Charles from bear fur.]]
* Curse: [[spoiler:Charles was forced to spend 150 years as the white bear, and unless he could meet the requirements to break the curse, he would belong to the Troll Queen.]]

* [[{{ptitlemmu9l6ginfls}} Orphan's Plot Trinket]]: [[spoiler:The ring that Charles gives Rose before he is taken away, which turns out to be proof of his heritage as part of the French monarchy.]]

* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler:When the Troll Queen takes Charles back to her kingdom after he becomes human permanently, she immediately starts drugging him in order to make him forget his time as the white bear.]]

* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Older Sister]]: Elsie.

''East'' by Edith Pattou is a retelling of EastOfTheSunAndWestOfTheMoon. Ebba (actually Nyamh) Rose, was first conceived as a replacement due to her deceased east-born older sister, Elise, but a twist of fate ends with her being a north-born child. Her mother is upset, due to her family's beliefs about north-born people being wild and generally ill-behaved, not to mention the prophecy about any north-born child she has dying buried in snow and ice, and so decides to pretend that Rose was a east-born child in the hopes of averting it. However, nature wins out over nurture time and again, and Rose proves to be very much not like Elise.