"In a shabby house in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil. But when her scheming mistress discovers her scullion is hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to win over the royal court. Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a power-hungry nobility, desperate kings, holy men, and frauds. With the pyres of the Inquisition...

"It opens in the year 1834 as a Black woman with magical powers named Saint founds a small settlement north of St. Louis with some slaves she has liberated, making the town invisible to the outside world by placing conjure stones around its perimeter; as the inhabitants of the town discover, however, Saint has provided them safety but not necessarily freedom. As the next four decades pass, more characters enter the novel, including two young boys...