The Mirk and Midnight Hour
Jane Nickerson
ISBN: 9780385752862
YA: Civil-War gently creepy fantastical novel of manners.
This is a companion-book of sorts to the author's first book, Strands of Bronze and Gold, and where that one gently tweaked the Bluebeard tale, this one has Tam Lin at heart.
The story begins with our focus character Violet reeling from the loss of her twin brother, dead in a Civil War battlefield. Her father is preparing to head to war himself, leaving her behind with the family slaves, Laney and Michael, and baby Cubby. Violet's household is soon filled to the brim with a stepmother (more pathetic than wicked), a stepsister (excellent character development there, shattering expectations), and a set of cousins - one, the fae and sensitive child heir to a luxe plantation, and the other, a swaggering blockade-running showboat of a young man, from the cadet branch of the family, raised on the plantation, and expected to be the heir himself until the unexpected birth of his young cousin. The variety of relationships (and neighbors) made the story really flow like a novel of manners, gently showing relationships building and changing over time. The discovery of an injured Union soldier in an abandoned lodge nearby, cared for by the enigmatic and creepy VanZeldt "family" of a white doctor and a set of haughty Africans changes everything, and the ripples of her discovery will impact every corner of Violet's life.
As in the other story, I was very happy to see that abusive characters are shown clearly, with no excuses made for their behaviors, even when other characters don't see (or remain willfully blind) to those faults.
I also liked the way that the author presented the question of slavery - slowly showing Violet becoming aware of how her way of life was impacting people that she loved or respected. It could have been corny or harsh, but it was almost natural.
I especially enjoyed the tension set up by the VanZeldts. They exist somewhere on a range from casually evil to amoral to totally alien, which is an interesting path to take with your main "villains" and I think only works as well as it does for me because of the association with the unknowable fae of the traditional Tam Lin tale. Relatedly, I thought that the integration of houdoun and voodoo and grisgris and rootworking was done nicely (even the shoutout to traditional zombies!) I especially enjoyed reading all the various interpretations and justifications that the different characters used to make their non-Christian practices fit into the dominant culture and belief system.
The storyline didn't grip me quite as hard as the first one did - I think partly because of familiarity. I've encountered lots of variants on Tam Lin, some good (as this one was) and most really wretched, where I don't recall ever reading a novelization of Bluebeard other than Fitcher's Brides (which I liked, but felt like the fairy-tale association was a bit forced into the cult setting).
I'm happy to see Nickerson writing another novel so soon, and I hope that she continues - her take on the Civil War south is a nice change of pace and setting from usual fantasy works.
