In many ways Three Fires (2023) is the companion piece to Mina's brilliant Rizzio (2021). Both, obviously, are novellas published by Polygon. Both take historical incidents and view them through a contemporary lens. Three Fires is less immediately engaging. Its hero, the 15th century Florentine mystic dictator Girolamo Savonarola is clearly less appealing than the (probably) innocent French secretary. Political murder, in the latter case, is more exciting than a renegade preacher ultimately brought down by hubris. That said, both are compelling reads - Mina couldn't write boring sentence if she tried. And she manages to drag out every shred of humanity in Savonarola. He starts off indifferent to God, then personal setbacks lead him to find God. He genuinely believes God speaks to him, then he begins to doubt, and the doubts quickly lead to his gruesome death.
The novella is the perfect form for Mina's purpose. Many have tried and failed to spin the Rizzio story into full-length novels. Such attempts fail because poor old Rizzio was collateral damage in a political powerplay which happened behind closed doors in Tudor times but today are everyday public fare. In that sense Savonarola plays better because he is definitely responsible for his own rise and fall. The canvas is bigger, the protagonist centrestage.
I for one am really enjoying Mina's mid-career experiments.
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