The Secret Market of the Dead by Giovanni De Feo

The Secret Market of the Dead

Giovanni De Feo, Carlotta Brentan, Simon & Schuster Audio

S&S/Saga Press · Print & ebook · July 8, 2025

A Fantasy pick for readers exploring The Secret Market of the Dead.

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Who it’s for
A gothic historical fantasy where ambition crosses into a realm of costly magic.
Genres
Historical Fantasy, Gothic Romance, Dark Fantasy
Published
S&S/Saga Press, July 8, 2025

About this book

An “enthralling” (Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library and Elusive) Italian-inspired gothic historical fantasy about a young woman who finds her power in the nocturnal realm that lurks beneath her town. Just beyond the waking edges of Lucerìa, an 18th-century town in the kingdom of Naples, lies the Night: an enigmatic fiefdom governed by seven immortals and fueled by Moira, the power to reshape one’s destiny.

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On this porous border separating Day from Night, Oriana spends her time fantasizing about becoming a smith in her father’s forge and eavesdropping on whispered tales of beasts and men who roam the nocturnal realm. But in the Night, these stories come alive, as Oriana saw for herself after she inadvertently trespassed into the Secret Market of the Dead, where vendors hawk Moira to those desperate enough to accept its immeasurably steep price. Years later, when her father chooses her twin brother to succeed him, Oriana challenges her sibling to a series of trials to determine the forge’s true heir. But as the twins’ fierce competition escalates, with the town and her own family set firmly against her, Oriana realizes that to break free from the stifling confines of Day, she must once again embrace the Night—and, as always, everything comes with a cost.

Day Meets Night

A gothic historical fantasy where ambition crosses into a realm of costly magic.

Come here for

  • Eighteenth-century Naples, shadowed by an uncanny nocturnal realm
  • Sibling rivalry sharpened by questions of inheritance and destiny

Expect

  • Gothic atmosphere with a distinctly Italian-inspired setting
  • A heroine pressing against the limits set by family and town

Where it sits

Historical Fantasy88%
Gothic Romance78%
Dark Fantasy22%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Historical Fantasy
  • Fairy Tales & Myths
  • Gothic Romance
Authors
Giovanni De Feo, Carlotta Brentan, Simon & Schuster Audio
Publisher
S&S/Saga Press
Published
July 8, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Historical Fantasy