But all magic has a price, known as the trick, and Clara’s trick is that if people come to her asking for help she must help broker a deal between them and an enigma. She was found guilty and faced with the possibility of spending the rest of her life in jail, so she used her ability to call an enigma to her, the Empress, who gave her a charm to gain her freedom.

She was arrested and spent two years in jail. During the 1919 Red Summer Riots, she shot and killed a white police officer who broke into her bedroom. This power has always scared Clara so she blocks it out as much as she can.īut when she is seventeen years old Clara faces a horrible tragedy. Clara is able to see spirits that have passed over, god-like spirits called enigmas, and psychic energy of various kinds. These portents hint at a difficult life with important choices ahead, and a special gift for seeing the other side. A rough start for Clara JohnsonĬlara enters the world at a cross-road with a caul completely covering her. I highly recommend her bewitching story for a great read. Her characters are rich and seem to come right off the pages as they work to solve a puzzling mystery and stop an all-out spiritual war that could destroy our world.

Penelope paints a vivid picture of 1920s Washington D.C. In The Monsters We Defy author Leslye Penelope tells the story of Clara and her friends who are trying to save humankind from losing the very thing that makes us human, our destinies. Born with a caul over her face and screaming her head off, she sees what others can’t and she never bites her tongue. Conflict in the spirit world is leaking into the human one and along D.C’.s legendary Black Broadway, a mystery unfolds-one that not only has repercussions for Clara but all of the city’s residents.Īvailable Augfrom Hachette Audio as a digital download, and in Print and Ebook from Redhook.Clara Johnson is one hell of a girl. But as they encounter increasingly difficult obstacles, a dangerous spirit interferes at every turn.

She’ll need help from an unlikely team, from a jazz musician capable of hypnotizing with a melody to an aging vaudeville actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District.Ĭlara can’t pull off this daring heist alone. So, when the Empress, the powerful spirit who holds her debt, offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, a desperate Clara seizes the chance. Now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. A woman able to communicate with spirits must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist to save her community in this timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.Ĭlara Johnson talks to spirits, a gift that saved her during her darkest moments in a Washington D.

The monsters we defy by leslye penelope