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The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche

Historical fantasy

The Stone Witch of Florence

Debut

We love supporting debut authors. Congrats, Anna Rasche, on your first book!

by Anna Rasche

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Quick take

As the Black Plague tears through Italy, a formerly exiled healer is lured home and embroiled in a dangerous scheme.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Feminist

    Feminist

  • Illustrated icon, International

    International

  • Illustrated icon, Underdog

    Underdog

  • Illustrated icon, Witchy

    Witchy

Synopsis

Ancient sorcery. Magic gemstones. Only one woman can save a city in ruins…

1348. As the Black Plague ravages Italy, Ginevra di Gasparo is summoned to Florence after nearly a decade of lonely exile. Ginevra has a gift—harnessing the hidden powers of gemstones, she can heal the sick. But when word spread of her unusual abilities, she was condemned as a witch and banished. Now the same men who expelled Ginevra are begging for her return.

Ginevra obliges, assuming the city’s leaders are finally ready to accept her unorthodox cures amid a pandemic. But upon arrival, she is tasked with a much different she must use her collection of jewels to track down a ruthless thief who is ransacking Florence’s churches for priceless relics—the city’s only hope for protection. If she succeeds, she’ll be a recognized physician and never accused of witchcraft again.

But as her investigation progresses, Ginevra discovers she’s merely a pawn in a much larger scheme than the one she’s been hired to solve. And the dangerous men behind this conspiracy won’t think twice about killing a stone witch to get what they want…

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Get an early look from the first pages of The Stone Witch of Florence.

The Stone Witch of Florence

PROLOGUE

Summer, 1348

One wicked July, a boy approached the ancient archway of the Porta di Santo Stefano. Squinting into full summer sun, he saw the heavy wooden doors shut tight. Although it was midday and the normal time for business, no guards stood outside, no people sought entrance. The year before, the scene would have been very different.

In happier times, any traveler arriving with honest purpose could enter Genoa for a small fee. But now cities detested strangers, and the boy was afraid of being turned away. He stepped off the road and into an untended vegetable garden, concealing himself in the overgrown arbor. A feeble breeze stirred the wilting vines, carrying with it the nasty scent of burning hair. There were hard green grapes just starting to grow, and the boy plucked and ate them eagerly. When his sour little meal was through, he settled down in the hot dirt to wait for an opportunity. He peered through the leaves, his eyes following the dirty stones of the city wall southward to where they met the Ligurian Sea.

The squeaking wheels of a cart brought his attention back to the road. It was loaded with dusty sacks, once filled with flour, now to be used as shrouds. In spite of the punishing heat, the cart’s driver was wrapped up in a heavy cloak, his hood ringed with salt lines from drying sweat. Cracked leather gloves covered his hands and yellowed linen covered his face. None of this was strange to the boy. He crept out of the arbor as the wagon rolled past, jumped up lightly, and burrowed into the empty sacks. The driver continued on, oblivious, and when he reached the archway, the gate was pulled open without question.

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Why I love it

Rose quartz to find love. Carnelian for courage. Amethyst to fight tumors. If you’ve ever shopped for gemstone jewelry, you will get a list of the healing properties along with that shiny new ring or dangly bracelet. If you happened to be shopping from Ginevra di Gasparo, in Florence, in 1348, you may just have gotten some truly curative accessories.

Ginevra di Gasparo has a special gift of harnessing the healing power of gemstones—and healing the sick. In secret and desperation, townspeople came to her for such remedies, until she was cast away as a witch. Now, as the Black Plague tears through Italy killing everyone in its wake, the very men who sent her into exile call her back to help. People blame the plague on a thief who is stealing holy relics, and if she ever wants to rejoin society, Ginevra must find the thief.

I love strong heroines. Smart. Practical. With everything crumbling around her head, Ginevra finds a way to save herself and the people she befriends along the way—including a suspicious priest and a young abandoned wife. This is a fun and charming read—despite the Black Plague—and I hope you enjoy reading The Stone Witch of Florence as much as I did.

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Debut authors
View all
Weyward
Lessons in Chemistry
The Stone Witch of Florence
Honey
All We Were Promised
Shark Heart
The Road of Bones
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
Dinner for Vampires
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
Homeseeking
Definitely Better Now
Dirty Diana
A Thousand Times Before
Ariadne
Lunar Love
The Wishing Game
The Collected Regrets of Clover
The Days I Loved You Most
Thistlefoot
The Wives
Adelaide
Here After
Spitting Gold
Did I Ever Tell You?
Middletide
The Teller of Small Fortunes
Northwoods
A Flicker in the Dark
This Spells Love
A Short Walk Through a Wide World
The Storm We Made
Neighbors and Other Stories
More
You, Again
The Love Hypothesis
Red, White & Royal Blue
The Other Valley
Hard by a Great Forest
Maame
The Circus Train
The Mayor of Maxwell Street
The Other Black Girl
The Push
Age of Vice
This Time Next Year
The Lost Apothecary
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?
One Day in December
Paper Names
We Are the Brennans
Black Cake
The Last Russian Doll
Olga Dies Dreaming
She Started It
Bringing Down the Duke
Somebody's Daughter
The Hacienda
Beautiful Country
Dearest
Kaikeyi
River Sing Me Home
Love & Other Disasters
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
Sign Here
The Stranger Upstairs
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The Verifiers
A Little Hope
In Every Mirror She's Black
Taste Makers
Fiona and Jane
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Camp Zero
The Last Story of Mina Lee
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
My Body
Honey Girl
Vladimir
Big Friendship
Black Buck
White Ivy
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The Mothers
The Animators
Marlena
Sharp Objects
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On The Clock
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