Saturnalia

Doors open at 7. The sacrifice is at 9. The dress code is, as usual, black tie. It`s the winter solstice in a Philadelphia that has been eroded by extreme weather, economic collapse, and disease-carrying mosquitoes. The Saturnalia carnival is about to begin - an evening on which nearly everyone, rich or poor, forgets their troubles for a moment. For Nina, Saturnalia is simply a cruel reminder of the night that changed everything for her. It`s now three years since she walked away from the elite Saturn Club, with its genteel debauchery, arcane pecking order, and winking interest in alchemy and the occult. Since then, she`s led an isolated life, eking out a living telling fortunes with her Saturn Club tarot deck. But when she gets a chance call from Max, her last remaining friend from the Saturn Club, Nina will put on a dress of blackest black and attend the Club`s wild solstice masquerade, the biggest party of the year, on a mysterious errand she can`t say no to. Before the night is over, she will become the custodian of a horrifying secret - and the target of a mysterious hunter. As Nina runs across an alternate Philadelphia balanced on a knife`s edge between celebration and catastrophe - through parades, worship houses, museums, hidden mansions, and the place she once called home - she`s forced to confront her past so she can finally take charge of her own, and perhaps everyone else`s, future. A wholly original blend of feminism, cli-fi, suspense and magical realism, Saturnalia is a story about environmental collapse and class warfare, trauma and rebirth, and magic – the extraordinary, ancient magic of alchemy and the ordinary, timeless magic of bravery and forgiveness. `A heady mix of the most terrifying elements of our troubled past and inevitable future, an eerie, propulsive novel - Carmen Maria Machado `An unusual blend of thriller, alchemical fantasy and climate apocalypse, it`s a wild, entertaining ride` - Guardian `October demands that gothic, autumnal read and Saturnalia is it... This has it all: magic, mystery, a fierce female protagonist, and a fact paced plot that will keep you turning the pages` - Glamour (Best New Books for October) `A propulsive mystery-thriller... Future Philly falls somewhere between steampunk and cyberpunk - baroque, pungent, stratified, crumbling - and Feldman gives its plight considerable emotional charge by making it feel real and lived-in` - SFX Magazine `A chilling tale of alchemy and corruption... Saturnalia is both dazzlingly inventive and full of spine-tingling menace` - Washington Post `Taking place over one evening, this book should be devoured quickly, like the sinful treat that it is` - CrimeReads `Saturnalia was worth the wait. Feldman spins a web of intrigue and wonder across a city beset by dark powerbrokers, climate upheaval, deadly mosquitos, and lavishly costumed pagan social clubs marching down Broad Street in celebration of the winter solstice` - Philadelphia Inquirer `Tense and suspenseful, Saturnalia features strong world-building and a fully realized heroine… It will appeal to fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, while the book may also draw in readers of climate horror such as Omar El Akkad`s American War or Jeff VanderMeer`s Southern Reach trilogy` - Booklist This novel contains depictions of sexual assault and animal cruelty.