The Familiar
“A must-read for those who are seeking a little
magic in their lives.”
―Deborah Harkness,
#1 bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches
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.
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International retailers
Praise
5 Starred reviews
from Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, Booklist, and Bookpage
A Most Anticipated Book of 2024
by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Goodreads, LitHub, The Nerd Daily, Paste Magazine, Today.com, and so much more!
“Riveting… Leigh Bardugo’s characters are so three-dimensional you want to reach through the page.”
―Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlander“A wonderful, transporting ride through a moment in history, where you can see the height of Spanish power but also sense the rot underneath. I really enjoyed it, it definitely made me think, and, of course, it’s deeply romantic.”
―Katherine Arden, author of The Warm Hands of Ghosts“The sharp realism mixes with a genuine feeling of enchantment to create a top tier historical fantasy.”
―Publishers Weekly, starred review ★“The Familiar highlights all of the things that make Bardugo so well loved: a romance with maddening chemistry, an artfully built world, side characters with their own deep backstories, and a plot full of dark twists and spiderweb connections.” ―Booklist, starred review ★
“Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.”
―Kirkus, starred review ★“Bardugo masterfully weaves magical realism with historical fiction and romance, which makes this book impossible to put down.”
―Library Journal, starred review ★