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 Siliceo, a blacksmith's daughter 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 held in honor of Saint Anthony, patron saint of smiths. Oriana asks the statue of Saint Anthony to save him, but help comes instead from the magic of a Night Saint called the Duke of Under-earth. Soon Oriana meets him in person at a local fair, where he sells her a handkerchief that can unfold into a mansion for the price of a task: sneak into the Secret Market of the Dead and retrieve the Duke's stolen blacksmith hammer from the wily Dreamarquise of Cats, a normal cat in the waking world who becomes magical in dreams. Oriana's journey into "the Night that belongs to dreams, storms, and the unquiet dead" leads her to a market where the dead sell cursed destinies to the unwary living. Oriana's adventure there is perilous, but the true fight of her life comes years later when she learns the Smith's Guild will recognize only her brother 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. Oriana's dedication to her craft runs counter to societal expectations as well as her formidable mother's ambitions for her, but her spirit and audacity carry her through each time a stumbling block is placed in her way. The community of Lucerìa, where Oriana and Oriano's bet becomes a flashpoint for conflict between young women and old ways, 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
Shelf Talker: A 17th-century Neapolitan girl stumbles into the magical world of the Night in this vibrant novel based in Italian folktales.