Magic's Silken Snare

April 15, 2003
Gilligan's adventure-romance begins a new series, Silken Magic, set in an alternate seventeenth-century Europe in which the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (southern Italy), here named Tyrrhia, is more prosperous and tolerant than it was in this reality. The protagonist is Luciana, duchessa di Drago, who discovers that her beloved sister, Alessandra, has been murdered, and the corpse stolen. If the body is not recovered, its theft will turn Alessandra's spirit into a demon, because the sisters are Rom (Gypsy), and that is what happens in this alternate world. Luciana sets out through a maze of court intrigues--in which daggers and spells await her at every turn--aided only by her wits and her sister-in-law, the queen. Gilligan creates an interesting world and develops it well, fills it with well-constructed characters, and engages them in a plot that definitely keeps one turning pages. The cliff-hanger ending would guarantee a sequel even if this wasn't marked "Book #1 of . . ." Surely there will be more cheers than groans over that prospect.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)