The icy, earthy terrain of medieval Muscovy is not necessarily the most natural setting for a fairy tale. This time and place are brutal, complex, and fascinating, but the fairy-tale form—strong on villains and princesses—does not always leave room for the infinite shades of gray necessary to do this location and time period justice.
It would take a far longer and more ambitious novel than The Girl in the Tower to give a full and vital picture of the wars, the shifting alliances, the ambitions, of the monks, priests, merchants, peasants, princesses, nuns, and faiths that made up this incredible and poorly documented era.
In this book, I have striven for accuracy; I have also tried my best to at least hint at complex depths—of personality and of politics—when I could not delve into them more deeply. I have tried to stay true to the fairy tales that are my source material, but not to lose the texture of a time and a place I have come to love.
I have done my best. For inaccuracies and shortcomings, I apologize.
There are plenty of books out there for those wishing to learn more about the realities of this time period. I would like to recommend the dense and fascinating Medieval Russia, 980–1584 by Janet Martin (2007, Cambridge University Press). I have also benefited from Russian Folk Belief by Linda Ivanits (second edition, Routledge, 2015). The Domostroi is one of a few primary sources—it is a householder’s manual written somewhat later than the events of this novel, around the time of Ivan the Terrible.
Any of these will help those hungry for more historical detail.
As always, thank you all for reading.