The Thirty-Fifth Page, by Lya Badgley

The ink shimmered, shifted, stirring awake like blood beneath skin.

As Sarajevo teeters on the brink of war, American art conservator Miri Adler arrives to research the legendary Sarajevo Haggadah, a medieval manuscript that has withstood centuries of upheaval. Immersed in her work, Miri discovers strange patterns hidden in its pages—clues pointing to a truth that could unravel everything she knows. When a mysterious thirty-fifth page appears, she is drawn into a shadowed realm where history and folklore entwine, stirring long-dormant Balkan legends and a curse on the verge of reawakening.

Spanning two timelines—from a city on the precipice of conflict in 1992 to its fragile peace in 2015—The Thirty-Fifth Page unfolds as a luminous tale of inherited wounds, ancient magic, and the enduring stories that shape our identities.

Brimming with magical realism, this gothic-tinged literary suspense explores the legacy of a city caught between the scars of its past and the promise of a new beginning.

“Layered, moody, and deeply immersive. In Badgley’s taut literary thriller, American conservator Miri Adler sets out to document the fabled Sarajevo Haggadah as war creeps toward the city. Her orderly project unravels as shimmering letters, shifting images, and an impossible thirty-fifth page draw her into a realm where folklore overtakes history and a Balkan curse stirs to life. Sarajevo in the final months before war is rendered with heartbreaking clarity—the smell of woodsmoke and cardamom coffee in the market, the suddenness of barricades and vanishing neighbors. Badgley’s quiet touch with magical realism keeps the mystery credible, while underscoring a harder truth: art survives, but memory is always at risk of being erased. A steady, slow-burn thriller that lands with quiet force.” – The Prairies Book Review