The Strega Borgia Chronicles is a series of black comedy novels for older children by award-winning Scottish writer and illustrator Debi Gliori. Pure Dead Magic was Gliori's first novel.
The chronicles follow the Strega Borgias, a quirky, bizarre, Italian family: Signor and Signora Strega-Borgia (Luciano and Baci) and their four children, Titus, Pandora, Damp and Nieve, who live with their mythical companions in their fictitious home StregaSchloss, in Argyll. It consists of two trilogies: Pure Dead and Deep. The Strega-Borgias share similarities to The Addams Family.
Characters
The family
Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia - The sometimes hot-tempered husband of Baci and father of Titus, Pandora, Damp and Nieve. He is very fond of his family, despite leaving them in a temper in the first book and frequently arguing with Baci. Enjoys coffee, especially cappuccino. Signora Baci Strega-Borgia - Luciano's wife, mother to Titus, Pandora, Damp and Nieve. She dislikes being pregnant. Baci attends a witch academy, although she is absolutely appalling at magic. Titus, son of the above. Twelve during the series Titus is something of a computer geek. His laptop has been used for, amongst other things, growing rather a lot of small pink clones, and receiving video clips from the future. Titus loves food, especially raspberry muffins. He has/had a band. Titus is terrified of spiders but unlike most arachnophobics seems willing to tolerate them when he has to. Pandora - Titus's younger sister, ten or eleven during the series. Pandora is occasionally obsessed with makeup, much to the distress of her father who believes her far too young for it. She believes that technology is dreadful and loves her pet rats, Multitudina and Terminus. Pandora is probably the most observant and intelligent of the Borgias. During the series she gains a card for the Library, an assortment of magical items, and run by the centaur, Alpha. Damp - The youngest Strega-Borgia up till the final book, the aptly named Damp is a baby magus who constantly keeps her nanny on her toes preventing Damp's magic from being discovered by her parents. Damp has a bat familiar called Vesper. She is a messy little girl who loves colours and glitter but in Pure Dead Brilliant she is revealed to grow up to be an arrogant and haughty individual. (This may change, seeing as that was the future in which Titus died, and was changed before the events starting to lead to that occurred.) Nieve (a.k.a. "little no name" or "somebody else entirely") - The new baby and younger son of the Borgias' Nieve was born in the beginning of the last book. It is implied Nieve may be as powerful a magus as his sister Damp. Nieve has a salamander familiar called Orynx. He apparently has dark brown eyes (as revealed through his internal monologues in Deep Water). **REVISION**: Though in Deep Fear (the last book) Nieve's eyes are continuously referred to as navy blue. However, this is not to be confused with the green eyes of the demon baby/changeling that takes Nieve's place with Baci for most of the book. As for Nieve being a magus, the reader is left with the suggestion that he may instead be an earthbound (or fallen angel) when Damp notices that he has fine downy feathers like angel wings around his shoulders. This is reinforced when Damp motions to Nieve that she has noticed and will keep the 'secret.' However, it is also suggested that the feathers COULD be left over from the Swan transformation. Unfortunately, we never find out for sure and the reader is left wondering as to which it is. Strega-Nonna (Amelia) - Cryogenically preserved six-times-great grandmother of Titus, Pandora, Damp and Nieve. She was an extremely powerful witch in her time and retains some of her power. She lives in the freezer where she lives in cryogenic preservation until science finds a cure for death and old age. This is treated as a matter of humour during most of the series but Sab considers her desperation to evade death sad as shown by his existentialist brodding in Deep Trouble. Strega-Nonna's cryogenic preservation is somewhat contradicted by the fact that witches are portrayed as immortal in the series. She may have known Mrs McLachlan as a child. Don Lucifer di S'Embowelli Borgia - Luciano's evil half-brother. Don Lucifer hates his brother and often tries to kill him. He is a high player in the Mafia. Don Lucifer has had plastic surgery on his face, to reduce the size of his nose. Unfortunately, it went wrong and made him look and sound, like a rat. Don Lucifer serves as one of the main antagonists of the series.