Incantation

Content Warning: The source material deals with death, torture, and antisemitism, as well as hate crimes and cruelty to animals. Descriptions of violence and grief feature prominently.

The village of Encaleflora, named after the lime flower that grows there, has been the home of Estrella’s family for more than 500 years. As the book begins, Estrella smells the burning pyre coming from the Plaza at the center of the village, and her neighbor and best friend, Catalina, runs over with her so they can see what is causing it. The two friends join the crowd outside of a palace that once belonged to a duke and see that soldiers have made a pyre to burn books. Estrella watches the soldiers laughing at a crying rabbi who wears a red circle on his coat to mark his status as Jewish. His books are being burned as part of Spain’s suppression of Jewish books, medical knowledge, and alleged magic. 

The Plaza itself is known for being in front of the palace; as a barracks and prison where decrees are also placed, the palace is the center of village life. It is also where people fetch