Dvernik is a village in Polnia, located in a picturesque valley. The rivers here are fast, the mountains are high, and the people are friendly. But next to Dvernik there is a Thicket - a mysterious forest, alive and cruel. He kidnaps people, deprives them of their will and changes them beyond recognition. Agnieszka and Kasia live in Dvernik, friends who love each other like sisters. Their happy days are overshadowed by only one thing: they know that one day they will have to part. Soon the Dragon, a powerful wizard, will arrive in the village, the only one who can protect the villagers from the corrupting influence of the Thicket, which spares neither children nor adults, leaving traces of corruption in them forever. But the price for liberation from the nightmare is too high: once every ten years, the Dragon takes the most beautiful and most talented girl to his tower. No one has any doubt who his next victim will be - Kasia. Agnieszka hates the Dragon fiercely and knows that she will never come to terms with the loss. But this time he will make an unexpected choice, taking away the one that will change the life of all of Polnia. Naomi Novik is a winner of the Mythopoetic Prize and the British Fantasy Award, winner of the Nebula and Locus awards. The novel “The Thicket” became a New York Times bestseller and was recognized as the best book of the year by Publishers Weekly.