Weavingshaw

DEBUT Secrets are bartered for gold, and lies are punished harshly in debut author Al-Wasity’s gothic fantasy. Leena Al-Sayer, a young refugee whose father has been imprisoned for organizing a union, struggles to make ends meet and care for her younger brother, Rami. When Rami falls ill, Leena’s only hope for obtaining the medicine to cure him lies in confessing a secret to Bram St. Silas, the notorious “Saint of Silence,” who pays for secrets. Leena’s secret proves so useful to St. Silas that he forces her into a contract to aid him in his work. Resentful of the Saint’s power over her, yet intrigued by his mysterious background, Leena finds herself accompanying St. Silas to the forbidding Weavingshaw, a fortress haunted by both ghosts and familial betrayal. Al-Wasity skillfully imbues her Victorian fantasy world with recognizable modern issues such as the rights of refugees and the inequality between the rich and poor, and while the slow-burn attraction between Leena and St. Silas can feel a bit formulaic at times, Al-Wasity’s assured writing, energetic pacing, and creative twists are sure to keep readers captivated.