The Stone Witch of Florence is an engaging and well written historical political fantasy by Anna Rasche. Released 8th Oct 2024 by HarperCollins on their Harlequin Trade imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out from the same publisher in Aug 2025. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
Set in mid-14th century Florence, MC Ginevra has been exiled as a witch, but it called back to heal the sick, using her powers to tap the essences of precious stones. There's a geopolitical machinery in motion in which she's soon ensnared at great risk to herself.
The author has a good grasp of characterization, with clear, intelligent protagonists and a range of secondary characters. There are some issues with scene and dialogue (it's a debut novel), and there are long passages with a lot more "telling" than "showing". The only major, potentially deal breaking, issue is the pacing. It's glacial at points and it's not a short book, by any means. There are parts that were a slog to get through. Honestly, the author's *truly* impressive background research is admirable, but unless the reader is a fairly zealous history nerd, will likely prove an overabundance. The denouement and resolution felt rushed, for a book of this length.
Three and a half stars. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, or for historical fantasy realism fans.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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