Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling

Starred review from July 2, 2012
Debut author Boccacino bowls the reader over with his note-perfect rendition of a spooky Victorian atmosphere. Widower Henry Darrow employs governess Charlotte Markham, a young widow, to tutor his sons, James and Paul. Following a sinister murder in the village and housekeeper Mrs. Norman's lurid forebodings, Paul dreams of his mother in parallel to Charlotte's own eerie dreams of the dead, including her dead mother. Paul's vision leads to a reunion and to an implied struggle between the two women for control of the children. Many of the characters also encounter other beings, some with malevolent designs that echo past terrors from Charlotte's life. The complex reverberations of mirror images, dramatic parallels among those who are "bound by our grief," and vicarly exhortations on the nature of the supernatural lead Charlotte to acknowledge her attraction to Darrow and realize her role as a bridge between two worldsâa role that necessitates a terrible final choice. Boccacino's deft handling of this delicately supernatural period piece makes it a sterling genre selection. Agent: Sandy Lu, L. Perkins Agency.

July 1, 2012
Boccacino's Victorian gothic features a shadowy world hovering between the living and the dead. After the mysterious death of Nanny Prum, governess Charlotte Markham takes charge of the motherless Darrow boys, while their father, Henry Darrow, plays the role of the brooding, mysterious figure in the background. When Charlotte and her charges stumble into The Ending the place for things that cannot diethey meet the late Lily Darrow and are irrevocably drawn into the eerie and enchanting house of Darkling. When Charlotte realizes that a horrifying price is to be exacted by Mr. Whately, the master of the house of Darkling, she joins forces with Henry to save the boys and, ultimately, herself from the grips of a sinister game of life and death. Fantasy and fact blur as Boccacino excels in twisting and turning the plot in increasingly unexpected directions. Perfect reading for a dark and stormy night.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)