The sworn virgin : a novel
(Book)

Dukes takes readers to early-twentieth-century Albania, where 18-year-old Eleanora has been pampered by her physician father, Fran, whom she assists on house calls. Fran adores his daughter and is prepared to grant her wish to go to art school in Italy. But when Eleanora and Fran travel to a nearby town so that Fran can make the arrangements for her schooling, he's shot dead in the street by a man claiming that he's avenging a blood feud. Devastated, Eleanora returns to her stepmother, Meria, who cannot support them in their mountain village, spurring her to marry Eleanora off to her friend's brutal son, the head of a powerful clan. When he and his brothers come for Eleanora, she declares herself a sworn virgin, a tradition that allows her to live freely as a man does, but only if she never takes a lover. Eleanora has no problem adhering to this until a stranger appears. Dukes' provocative first outing offers a fascinating look at Albanian culture and the status of women and is sure to be popular with book clubs.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2017 Booklist

A young woman struggles against the strict social roles of 1910 Albania in Dukes' debut historical novel. In the mountain village where Diana Aganis lives with her father, Frenk, and stepmother, Mirlinda, society is governed by an ancient code known as "the Laws of Lek Dukagjini." Under the laws, a man's honor is everything, revenge killings and blood feuds are commonplace, and women are little more than property, like "a sack, made to endure." Diana has dreamed of escape since she was 5 years old, when a visiting foreign woman's sketches sparked her interest in art and let her know that feminine existence could be more than drudgery. Luckily, her father encourages her creative endeavors, and they travel to the nearby city of Shkodra to meet a priest who can help her attend art school in Venice. Then Frenk is shot dead in the street, the apparent victim of an honor killing. Diana makes the only choice she can to protect herself and Mirlinda: she becomes a "sworn virgin," taking a vow of chastity "in order to gain the right to live like a maninherit property, earn a living, carry a gun, and kill for vengeance"which she does, after tracking down her father's killer. Then she falls in love, putting her vow and her life in danger. Overall, Dukes has chosen an engaging setting for this novel, with its mix of medieval and modern elements, and fleshes it out with vivid details, such as the simple meals of goat cheese, cornbread, and yogurt and the elaborate costumes that show clan affiliation and social status with different patterns ("Diana did not recognize the pattern of the braiding, so she was unsure what tribe they came from"). Diana herself is portrayed as plausibly independent-minded without feeling like a feminist anachronism; for example, at one point, she concludes that "Sheep had more freedom [than women], and were less likely to be hit by their owner." A compelling story of a woman's trauma and strength. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Dukes takes readers to early-twentieth-century Albania, where 18-year-old Eleanora has been pampered by her physician father, Fran, whom she assists on house calls. Fran adores his daughter and is prepared to grant her wish to go to art school in Italy. But when Eleanora and Fran travel to a nearby town so that Fran can make the arrangements for her schooling, he's shot dead in the street by a man claiming that he's avenging a blood feud. Devastated, Eleanora returns to her stepmother, Meria, who cannot support them in their mountain village, spurring her to marry Eleanora off to her friend's brutal son, the head of a powerful clan. When he and his brothers come for Eleanora, she declares herself a "sworn virgin," a tradition that allows her to live freely as a man does, but only if she never takes a lover. Eleanora has no problem adhering to this until a stranger appears. Dukes' provocative first outing offers a fascinating look at Albanian culture and the status of women and is sure to be popular with book clubs. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.