I am very excited to recommend this week’s #spellbooksaturday feature…
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to improve the family’s social position. What begins as simple amusement for the nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen–and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor. Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the lines between magic, science, and fraud are never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive–even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santángel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
(source: bookshop.org)
After reading a couple of lackluster titles in a row, I was thrilled to stumble across The Familiar— and I quickly fell under Bardugo’s spell! This was a story I couldn’t wait to return to, and I found myself eagerly awaiting my next chapters. The prose is thoughtful and elegantly humane, giving depth even to unlikable characters; the historic setting is richly imagined; and the pacing of the novel keeps readers in suspense. I very much enjoyed the book, and look forward to exploring more of Bardugo’s writing in the future.
Have you read The Familiar? What were your thoughts? Share in the comments!
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