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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.

Member ratings (66)

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New and recent add-ons
View all
Intermezzo
The Stone Witch of Florence
What Does It Feel Like?
The Last One at the Wedding
The Book of George
We Solve Murders
The Bog Wife
Here One Moment
The Night We Lost Him
The Crimson Crown
Someone in the Attic
Middle of the Night
A Sorceress Comes to Call
Four Weekends and a Funeral
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love
The Seventh Veil of Salome
Leather & Lark
Hum
The Life Impossible
Vilest Things
The Love of My Afterlife
Home Cooking