The Mirk and Midnight Hour

January 13, 2014
As if it isn’t enough that Violet’s twin brother was killed in the Civil War, her family’s quiet Mississippi farm is changing in every way possible: before enlisting, her father remarries, giving Violet both an invalid stepmother and a spoiled stepsister, and he also agrees to take in Violet’s young cousin, Seeley. Adding more complications are the mysterious Doctor VanZeldt and his African companions, as well as a wounded Union soldier tucked away in the woods. Nickerson’s Strands of Bronze and Gold retold the Bluebeard story in antebellum Mississippi; this is a version of the Scottish tale of Tam Lin, with the fairy folk and their magic replaced by the VanZeldt’s voodoo. Tomboyish Violet’s interactions with Seeley and the Union soldier are charming, but Nickerson overburdens the book with plot, and the Civil War setting ends up an odd combination of special pleading (Violet is an unusually enlightened slave holder) and stereotype (the Africans are often described as moving with a feral grace), making for an overwrought jumble of the domestic and the fantastic. Ages 14–up. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency.

February 1, 2014
The author of Strands of Bronze and Gold (2013) returns to both Mississippi and fairy-tale retellings in this Civil War version of "Tam Lin." Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey has recently lost her twin brother to battle. Despite the war, she feels a sisterly connection with Laney, a slave who grew up alongside them. Perhaps that's why Violet feels compelled to assist Amenze VanZeldt, a free black girl, while shopping in town. The act begins an apprehensive relationship with these Africans, who practice the conjuring spirituality of hoodoo (as opposed to the religious practice of voodoo). In this atmospheric story in which darkness houses mysteries, the VanZeldts seem to glide like shadows rather than walk as humans. Fateful events keep Violet and the eerie family connected, most notably the discovery of a wounded Union soldier. As a secret romance evolves between Violet and this Yankee who makes her question slavery, the VanZeldts furtively heal him. Tension builds as their reasons for keeping the soldier alive become clearer. With rich imagery and imaginative subplots driving the storyline, the loose "Tam Lin" connection doesn't really arrive until the end. The author is careful not to generalize all African-Americans, offering a wide variety of characters--black and white. With an inexplicable magic of her own, the ever-resilient Violet is a force against the VanZeldts' deadly rituals. Far from the typical Civil War romance. (Historical fantasy. 14 & up)

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May 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-Violet's life is already in turmoil after her brother dies fighting for the South in the War Between the States, but now things have been completely upended: two distant cousins are coming to stay for the summer, and her father has remarried, bringing his new wife and her daughter into their home, then leaving for the war himself. But when Violet and her younger cousin discover Thomas, a wounded Union soldier holed up in a ruin deep in the woods, things become really complicated. Nickerson retold the Bluebeard story in Strands of Bronze and Gold (Knopf, 2013), and here she recrafts the ballad of Tam Lin, setting it in Mississippi during the Civil War. Her tale is strikingly atmospheric: Violet's summer feels languid and sticky with brief moments of lightness and respite during her visits to Thomas (with whom she is falling in love despite herself). Through it all, a thrumming drumbeat of danger grows louder until reaching the wild conclusion. But while Nickerson makes the most of the setting with the book's mood, it's also her story's Achilles heel. The treatment of race is problematic: Violet's family's slave, Laney, is referred to as a "servant" and promises she won't leave, since her family and Violet's are linked. The villains are also the shadowy VanZeldts, who practice a mix of hoodoo and snake worship they learned in Africa. Fans of Nancy Werlin's Impossible (Dial, 2008), dark faeries, magical realism, historical fantasy, and star-crossed love will find plenty to enjoy here.-Gretchen Kolderup, New York Public Library

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