Court of Lions

Johnson (Pillars of Light) adds to her catalog of highly immersive, well-researched historical fiction. Set in Granada, Spain, the narrative shifts 500 years between Kate in the present and Blessings in the 15th century. Kate is in hiding in Granada, working under an assumed name in a bodega owned by an anti-Muslim Catholic zealot. While wandering the Alhambra, Kate finds a scrap of paper inked with unusual symbols tucked in a wall. Intrigued and enchanted, she further explores the palace grounds, which leads to a chance encounter with the garden's conservator and a zellij (mosaic tile work) master who has also unearthed marked fragments during his restoration work. Research reveals these papers are written in an ancient desert language, but by whom and why? Desert-born Blessings lives in the Alhambra as the companion to Prince Momo, son of the sultan of Granada. Blessings's story spans nearly two decades of serving Momo only to lose everything when Momo, as Mohammed XII, surrenders to the anti-Muslim, Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella.