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Review: Heart of Stone

BySarah Dixon Young

In George Saunders’s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he wrote about the inner workings of the Russian short story. He said, “The part of the mind that reads a story is also the part that reads the world.”

Emma C. Fox’s young adult sequel, Heart of Stone, challenges readers to do more than simply read a story. Exploring themes of disability, adoption, friendship, sacrifice, and love, Heart of Stone takes the characters and Siberian setting of its predecessor, The Carver and the Queen, and fast-forwards twenty years to tackle fresh challenges through the eyes of new characters.

Petr and Lena, the protagonists from The Carver and the Queen, have married and produced a family of fine sons who are learning the stonecarving trade. Middle son, Dmitri, shows the most promise until an accident leaves his hands unable to hold the carving tools. Their neighbor, Sofya, has been widowed, and now, her daughter, Lilia, must care for the farm and hunt for food to provide for her mother and little brother, Fyedka, who is deaf. 

The curse Petr and Lena thought they buried beneath the Ural mountains is threatening to rise again, just when they thought they would leave the slavery of serfdom behind forever. 

Published by Owl’s Nest Publishers, Heart of Stone follows Lilia and Dmitri into the crucible of deciding whether to follow their hearts or lay their hearts down to save others. It is an exciting story of heroic bravery, adolescent uncertainty, and the staying power of steadfast love. 

Drawing from Russian folklore and tradition, Fox weaves a distinct retelling that introduces readers to new words, concepts, traditions, and names. My daughters and I enjoyed learning what a samovar is and how to make kasha. Anyone studying Russian geography, history, or culture would do well to include Fox’s fairytale renderings in their study. Also, her use of nicknames was reminiscent of The Brothers Karamazov and would give young readers a gentle introduction to what otherwise is a tricky switch between Russian names. 

Fox’s lyrical prose shines, and the story’s setting is as vivid as its characters in her descriptions of the hills, homes, carriages, and palaces of imperial Russia. Deep treatment is given to the limitations brought on by disability, as seen in this interchange between a character who is blind and Dmitri, who doesn’t have full use of his hands and fingers:

“Ah.” She shook her head. “Poor boy. It’s a harsh world for the likes of us, where one sense must do the work of two. Myself, I see with my hands.” 

She pawed along the length of his arm, poking and prodding at his linen shirtsleeve until she reached his withered wrist and curled palm. “And you—do you craft with your eyes?” She tapped his crooked fingers. 

“I’m not sure what you mean.” 

“Do you see art wherever you go?” Her voice lowered to a sing-song mumble. “Do you look at folds of cloth and see faces? Do you lie beneath a tree and weave dream patterns from the netted branches? Do you watch the ripples on the pond and note their intersections?” She pressed her thumb against his inner palm, and Dmitri sucked his teeth in pain. He had the sudden sensation of ice water sliding through his veins from shoulder to fingertips. “Do you gaze upon a block of stone and see worlds written inside?”

Dmitri is also challenged to overcome self-doubt as he realizes that Lilia is in danger and that he is the only one who is able to help her. Lilia comes face-to-face with the shortcomings of her parents and struggles to know her true identity and place in the world. Her character arc takes us on the journey of a growing understanding that love is more definitive of who she is and where she belongs than blood.

Russian folklore includes some creatures bordering on the demonic, and Fox does not shy away from introducing readers to the vodyanitsy, or bog-maidens, the spirits of women whose lovers abandoned them, as well as the rusalky, capricious water spirits more prone to sink a ship than to save it. 

The antagonists of the story are immortal beings who dwell beneath the mountains, and Fox gives them more of the spotlight in this sequel than in The Carver and the Queen. Sensitive readers may benefit from a parent reading ahead to be ready to discuss these spiritual components as well as instances of infidelity and death.

Fox weaves another unforgettable tale of forgiveness, perseverance, and love in Heart of Stone, and it is a story, once read, that enables us to better read the world. 

Recommended for ages 12 and older. Available August 4, 2026.

Sarah Dixon Young
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