Sofia lives outside of the city of Siena with her mamma, little brother Ermin, and their pet crow Corvith. Her mother is a bone binder, famous for her keepsakes and charms.
But ever since an unexpected visit from a silver-veiled stranger, Mamma has not been herself. She no longer takes pleasure in her work, nor will she let Sofia help her.
When Mamma is arrested on Sofia's birthday, the children are taken to the city orphanage. It's there that Sofia decides that she is no longer a helpless child. Clutching at her mamma's gift, an intricate bone locket, she sets out to unravel the secrets that bind her family to Siena itself: its catacombs and towers, it's birds and rivers. Its rulers and people. A journey to darkness, danger, destiny - and hope.
Published: Oct 2020
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Historical Fiction
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Let me start this review by saying how much I enjoy Kiran Millwood Hargrave as an author, her concepts always feel fresh and inspiring, and in this novel I was in love with the idea of the "bone binder", which is equally as haunting as intriguing.
The descriptions of the bone creations throughout the novel were my favourite sections, and I was longing for them to be expanded on to satisfy my own curiosity. I enjoyed trying to conceive how they were created and envision how they looked. The intricacies of a locket made of bone for example, how would it look, how would it feel, how was it crafted? I could have read a whole book on this subject alone!
Bearing in mind that this is a middle grade fiction, it did have hints of darker undertones, being set in a city that has experienced the full wrath and wreckage of the plague upon its residents, leading to many children becoming orphans and ending up in the orphanage where they might serve a greater purpose to the duchessa who provides for them.
Sofia is a young protagonist, but an intelligent one. Both her and her brother Ermin's appreciation and recognition of their mother's skill in her unusual craft drives the book, and helps them unravel the mystery of her arrest and why she never returned home.
The pace is fast and exciting, and the mysterious interweaving of birds, bones, plague and secret tunnels comes together beautifully.
When a middle grade fantasy can still be enjoyed by adult readers, you know the author has done something right! Each novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave brings something new to the table, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
If anyone is looking for further recommendations of her books, I reviewed her YA Fantasy The Deathless Girls here, as well as her first Adult Fiction The Mercies, which I highly recommend. It's a gripping historical fiction set in the times of witch trials. I couldn't put it down!
Zuzu 🖊
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