A vibrant, enchanting world of dark saints, magical contracts, and unshakeable fate emerges in Italian novelist and comic book writer Giovanni De Feo's first novel in English.
The 18th-century Neapolitan village of Lucerìa pays reverence not only to the Catholic saints of the waking Day world but also to seven unusual Saints who live in the dreamworld of "the Night that is just on the other side of Lucerìa." The village is also the home of eight-year-old Oriana, who dreams of the day she and her twin brother, Oriano, will inherit their father's smithy. Then Oriano is nearly trampled during a parade. When Oriana asks the statue of Saint Anthony to save him, help comes instead from the magic of a Night Saint called the Duke of Under-earth.
Oriana's adventure for the Duke into the Secret Market of the Dead is perilous, but the true fight of her life comes years later when she learns the Smith's Guild will recognize only Oriano as their father's heir. Oriana issues a challenge that will determine the smithy's fate, and with all of the Day, including her family, standing against her, she must embrace the Night to find her true destiny.
This meditation on the twin powers of destiny and choice as well as the indomitable human passion to create comes wrapped in layers of whimsy, folklore, and darkness. The community of Lucerìa is as intricately realized as the fantastical Night with its talking cats, wondrous creations, and fool's bargains. The Secret Market of the Dead reads like a lucid, impossible dream and should enchant fans of Erin Morgenstern and GennaRose Nethercott. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads