Nicole Jarvis has been writing stories as long as she can remember. After graduating with degrees in English and Italian from Emory University, Nicole moved to New York City to pursue a career in publishing. She currently works in marketing at Bloomsbury Publishing and lives in Manhattan with two cats named after childrens’ book characters. She loves listening to musicals, thinking about the inner lives of superheroes, and learning strange and delightful history. The Lights of Prague is her first novel. 
The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis
The Lights of Prague (2021) is Nicole Jarvis’s first novel. It’s set in 1868 Prague, filled with pijavica* — vampires — and other magical creatures. Fighting the pijavica are the lamplighters, whose cover job is to go around lighting the new gas streetlamps in the city. Domek Myska is a lamplighter, apprenticed to an irascible alchemist. Lady Ora Fischerova is a widowed noblewoman with a secret, who has started up a flirtation with Domek. A bold and terrible plan hatched by an upstart nest of vampires threatens them and the entire city.
At first glance, a story like this should be right up my street. Lovely prose, detailed history and descriptions of Prague helped, but ultimately, flattened characters and a predictable plot made this book a disappointment.
The most beguiling character of the book is Kaja, an imprisoned will o’... Read More
