Creatures of Charm and Hunger by Molly Tanzer (Creatures of Want and Ruin) combines a dark, gothic adventure with a moving and often humorous story of relationships. In northern England, near the end of World War II, two young women face a test to become diabolists, studying in order to make a pact with a demon in exchange for power. The test itself is only the beginning of their trials. One, Miriam Cantor, a Jewish German refugee, learns that her parents, still in Germany, are suspected of betraying the Société des Éclairées to the Nazis. Meanwhile, Jane Blackwood, the daughter of Miriam's guardian in England, faces the possibility that she may not succeed as a diabolist. The Société has too many secrets to let failed students go their own way, and Jane takes increasingly drastic measures to ensure her future.
Miriam and Jane were dear friends when they were young, but as they grew, their relationship became more strained and, of the two, Miriam followed more closely in Jane's mother's footsteps. As Miriam's search for her parents leads her to a Nazi diabolist plot, she takes greater and greater risks to defeat it, and as Jane's dangerous methods jeopardize her own mother, the two together will need to face what they were taught in order to defeat evils both human and supernatural. For a diabolist there are no shortcuts, only sacrifices. Tanzer's third in the Diabolist's Library series will delight and captivate new readers and series fans alike. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library