The Secret Market of the Dead

Debut author DeFeo crafts a sumptuous folkloric excursion into the depths of human creativity. In the fictional Neapolitan town of Lucerìa in 1747, preteen twins, Oriana and Oriano, both yearn to inherit their father’s smithy. Though Oriana is less physically strong, she excels Oriano in intellect and ambition—and she’s in touch with the Night, a shadowy parallel world, “wild and old” and teeming with Moira, the power to shape human destiny. At a parade honoring St. Anthony, Oriana saves Oriano from an accident by appealing to the Night One, aka the Duke of Under-earth, in a meeting that later leads her to undertake several more visits to his realm, where the dead sell Moira at their Market. Oriana’s hunger to make beautiful things at her father’s smithy drives her further into the Night, where she uncovers her family’s secret dreams and overcomes many steep challenges. Eventually, she learns the most perilous secret of all: that dreams in the Under-earth produce human masterpieces—but at a fearful price. The worldbuilding is lush and extraordinary, and a welter of motives and schemes keep the pages flying. It’s a feast for the imagination. (July)