Inquisition lasted centuries, spanned countries, but is perhaps best known by its manifestation in Spain where a judicial institution, ostensibly formed to combat heresy, remained for more than 200 years. During this period, thousands were executed, and the Jewish and Muslim communities were expelled from Spain by royal decree in 1492. Some Jewish people, called conversos, converted to Catholicism in a bid to avoid persecution. This is the backdrop of Lucia’s story, a societ where
intolerance is rife and non-conformit is quashed. But Lucia is ambitious and so when her mistress Valentina discovers her magical abilities, Lucia uses the opportunit to rise from her life as a servant. Her renown quickly grows as whispers run throughout Madrid telling of a girl who can perform miracles. Soon, she captures the atention of the avaricious Víctor de Paredes and his servant Guillén de Santángel. To rise in the esteem of the court, Víctor becomes Lucia’s patron and enters her into a deadly tournament of miracles run by Antonio Pérez, the king’s disgraced former secretary. The contestants, seemingly blessed with powers from God, must compete to impress Pérez and win an audience with King Philip II. As the tournament progresses, desire pulses beneath the danger as Lucia’s relationship with Santángel, a strange man with unerring magical abilities, begins to blaze in what Bardugo has described online as her “most romantic” novel yet. Bardugo had wanted to write a story about a woman with magical powers and a familiar “for a long time” and choosing to set this story during the Spanish Inquisition was deeply personal: “I have this entirely missing branch of my family because of the Inquisition. My ancestors were expelled in 1492. We know that some stayed and became conversos, and it’s as if that branch was pruned from the tree. Writing this book was a way to use fiction to make it bloom again.”
Magic derived from language As well as giving voice to a missing part of her family, Bardugo highlights a nearly dead language in The Familiar. Lucia’s magic is derived from Ladino, a language originally spoken by the Jewish communit in Spain that spread throughout the diaspora aſter their expulsion. The magic is channelled through Ladino refanes that “are essentially idioms, sayings and proverbs which still exist today”.
Bardugo, born in Israel and raised in Los Angeles, had one such proverb “ratling around in my head” while she was growing up. It translates to: “Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom.” She explains: “For me, when I started pulling together the magic system of this world, I wanted these refanes to be a way Lucia connected with her people lost to exile, to her own fractured history, because, for me, writing the book accomplished those things as well.” Lucia’s story is in part inspired by the real life of Lucrecia de León, who was imprisoned by the Inquisition for years aſter her prophetic, seemingly miraculous dreams began to predict the fall of King Philip II. “Many people believed that her power of prophecy was divine, that angels were speaking to her. There was conflict between the idea of heresy and what people viewed as a potential miracle,” says Bardugo. Mention of De León
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“vanishes from the historical record” aſter her sentencing to a convent. The Familiar is a rich, enticing story in which the fantastical is delicately spun against the political machinations of King Philip II’s court. But the novel’s themes of power and intolerance resonate, unintentionally for Bardugo, with contemporary events: “I was writing to a time of intolerance and I think that’s something we see plent of now, but I think that the abilit to look at someone and see their humanit—as opposed to seeing religion, culture or borders—is something we are in danger of losing.”
The novel was conceived as a romance “from the
start”, but Bardugo was “hesitant to use that word because I know that [it] means different things to different people… I think there is a certain amount of disdain too when people talk about romances, which I’ve always found strange given how much time we spend in our lives looking for connection”.
Dedicated fandom Bardugo’s novels, particularly the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology, have birthed a dedicated fandom, and some of the moments in The Familiar “echo earlier scenes” in her oeuvre for those who enjoy the “deep dive” into her work. However, Bardugo cautions that fandom is a “double-edged sword [because] we live in a time when some of the boundaries and borders in these parasocial relationships have broken down”. Although Bardugo loves “connecting with readers”, and maintains that it is “one of the unexpected and joyful parts” of writing, finding a way to interact with fans on her own terms has been “very challenging” and she now primarily communicates any news on her Instagram account or via a newsleter. When I ask Bardugo whether the recent growth in the science-fiction and fantasy genre indicates a change in cultural perception about books that have historically been sidelined, she responds: “No. I think that any time you start to move the needle on culture, any time the market starts to respond to a given demographic taste, there’s always a kind of panic that ensues… People have been sneering at science fiction, fantasy and horror since I was a kid, for as long as I can remember.”
Metadata
Imprint Viking Pub date 11.04.2024 Format HB (£20), EB (£10.99) ISBNs 9780241655306, 9780241999851 Rights Sold in 12 territories, including the US (Flatiron Books) Editor Vikki Moynes Agent Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary
But Bardugo lays down the gauntlet for those “who have such contempt” for the genre: “Let me curate a list for you. Let’s have a talk. Let me find out what you like to read, what literary fiction you like to read, what poetry you like to read and then let’s have a conversation.”
Six of Crows Orion Children’s Books, £8.99, 9781780622286 The first in the Six of Crows duology set in the Grishaverse. “‘Ocean’s Eleven’ set in a ‘Game of Thrones’- esque world”, said the Independent. 257,015 copies sold
Bardugo’s top three
Crooked Kingdom Orion Children’s Books, £8.99, 9781780622316 War threatens the city of Ketterdam in the second instalment in the Six of Crows duology. “Cracking dialogue and sumptu- ous description”, said the Times. 161,102 copies sold
Shadow and Bone Orion Children’s Books, £8.99, 9781510105249 The first in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, where Alina Starkov discovers she possesses a magic deemed dormant. “Fast, thrilling heist fantasy, boasting a brilliant new cast of characters”, said the Metro. 90,943 copies sold
Data: Nielsen UK 19
Photography: Jen Castle
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