The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo on April 9, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Historical, Fiction / Historical / Renaissance, Fiction / Magical Realism
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
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This is a historical fantasy set in the Spanish Golden Age. This one is for historical fiction fans who want to step outside their comfort zone.
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 better the family’s social position. Luzia only does small things at first so that her mistress doesn’t discover her, like turning the burnt bread into perfectly golden bread.
What begins as simple amusement for the bored 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 line between magic, science, and fraud is 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 Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
This one was filled with history, magic, and drama. There were a few scenes that were a little gruesome but that just made the book more interesting for me. I enjoyed this one and had to keep reading to know what was going to happen. This was Game of Thrones meets Bridgeton. There is some history and with everyone trying to gain favor from the king and then the lengths they go to get it. And then the political drama that took place behind the scenes just made this all the more interesting.