Alchemy's Daughter

by Mary A. Osborne

Overview

Santina Pietra is seventeen and in medieval San Gimignano, daughters of merchants are expected to marry. But Santina cares only for Calandrino, a brilliant young scholar who is preoccupied with his ancient alchemical texts. Soon Santina meets Trotula, the village midwife, who might or might not be a "strega," a witch. Trotula challenges her to forget Calandrino and become the woman she is meant to be. Some say she is a victim of the midwife's spell, but Santina is determined to follow in Trotula's footsteps even as calamities strike. The setting is 14th century Italy, yet in Santina contemporary readers will discover a strong-minded young woman whose search for meaning echoes their own. Alchemy's Daughter is award-winning author Mary A. Osborne's second novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936181179
Publisher:	Lake Street Press
Publication date:	05/14/2015
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

...the historical time period is well researched, and Santina is a smart, capable heroine whose desire for both knowledge and love will feel familiar to many modern readers. For those interested in more stories of determined women in historical Italy, a companion novel, Nonna's Book of Mysteries (2010) is also available from Lake Street Press.

Booklist - Maggie Reagan

In Santina, multiple-award winner Mary A. Osborne has crafted a fully complex character, impulsive and enthusiastic on the surface, but with greater depth than typically found in YA fare...A good choice for those who enjoyed either Cushman's The Midwife's Apprentice or McMahon's The Alchemist's Daughter. Santina's story is a lively, emotional journey worth sharing.

Foreword Reviews - Pallas Gates McCorquodale

Author Mary Osborne's adept portrayal of a spirited and intelligent young girl growing up in Italy during the Middle Ages is an alluring tale that provides an intriguing blend of history, romance, and adventure. Alchemy's Daughter is a story with timeless appeal which speaks to young readers on many levels pertaining to the choices one must make when embarking upon the threshold of adulthood.

Literary Classics International Book Awards & Reviews

04/01/2015
Gr 8 Up—In the summer of 1343, Santina pines away for her tutor, but her father finds him unsuitable and forbids them to marry. Heartbroken, Santina begins visiting the village midwife, an old friend of her late mother's. Santina throws herself into midwifery to distract herself from her lost love and father's demands, but the townspeople—her father included—suspect that she has apprenticed herself to a witch. This suspicion only grows stronger when Santina and the midwife perform an unusual procedure to save the lives of a mother and child at the center of a political scandal. Santina has to follow her own heart and ambitions in order to save herself from an unwanted marriage—and to save those around her from the coming plague. This work includes a good message about remaining strong in one's beliefs, even in the face of 14th-century misogyny. The author clearly did her research, which comes through in expository chunks that can disrupt the flow of the story. Santina's love for her traveling scholar is never far from her mind, and the final reveals of relationships among characters are both unsurprising and unnecessarily convoluted. Overall, this reads like a melodramatic, paler version of Karen Cushman's The Midwife's Apprentice (Houghton Harcourt, 1995) for an older audience. VERDICT A strictly optional purchase for those seeking more medieval historical fiction.—Brandy Danner, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA

School Library Journal

2015-02-16
When a headstrong, intellectually curious 17-year-old living in 1344 San Gimignano, Italy, becomes a midwife's apprentice, she embarks on a harrowing journey to discover her true vocation.While her sisters focus on marrying appropriate husbands, Santina's besotted with Calandrino, a brilliant but poor scholar. After Santina's father discovers that she and Calandrino are in love, he dismisses the scholar, who departs for Spain to pursue his alchemy studies, promising Santina they will meet again. Distraught, Santina turns to the local midwife, who urges her to forget Calandrino and do something useful with her life. Against her father's wishes, Santina works as the midwife's apprentice until the midwife's accused of witchcraft. Fearing for her safety, Santina abandons midwifery and reluctantly agrees to marry an arrogant jewel merchant, though she secretly corresponds with Calandrino. When plague strikes, Santina nurses the afflicted, enraging her fiance, who accuses her of witchcraft, forcing her to flee in a surprising finale. Brimming with details of life in Italy during the plague of 1348, this well-researched story incorporates historical information about medieval alchemy, midwifery, and the conflict between science and superstition, providing a rich context and arresting contrast for Santina's thoroughly modern attitudes.This medieval love story and its memorable heroine are likely to resonate with contemporary teens. (maps, historical timeline, glossary, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews