The Mirk and Midnight Hour

by Jane Nickerson

Overview

A Gothic thriller and captivating love story set in Civil War Mississippi
 
Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey has been left at home in Mississippi with a laudanum-addicted stepmother and love-crazed stepsister while her father fights in the war—a war that has already claimed her twin brother. When she comes across a severely injured Union soldier lying in an abandoned lodge deep in the woods, things begin to change. Thomas is the enemy—one of the men who might have killed her own brother—and yet she’s drawn to him. But Violet isn’t Thomas’s only visitor. Someone has been tending to his wounds—keeping him alive—and it becomes chillingly clear that this care hasn’t been out of compassion. Against the dangers of war and threatening powers of voodoo, Violet fights to protect her home, her family, and the man she’s begun to love.
 
“An exciting story—juicy, romantic and at times quite chilling.” —BookPage
 
“An atmospheric story in which darkness houses mysteries, [with] rich imagery and imaginative subplots.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Compelling. . . . There’s a languid ease to the prose that invites readers to become fully immersed.” —The Bulletin

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385752879
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/11/2014
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

For many years, JANE NICKERSON and her family lived in a big old house in Aberdeen, Mississippi, where she worked as the children’s librarian at the local public library. She has always loved the South, “the olden days,” Gothic tales, houses, kids, writing, and interesting villains. Her first novel was Strands of Bronze and Gold, a retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale. Jane and her husband recently returned to Mississippi. Visit her at Jane-Nickerson.com.

Editorial Reviews

01/13/2014
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. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2014:
"There’s a languid ease to the prose that invites readers to become fully immersed in the sweltering heat of a Mississippi summer, and Nickerson paints a picture of the Southern landscape that is rustic but ethereal and at times, eerie."

Publishers Weekly, January 13, 2014:
"Tomboyish Violet’s interactions with Seeley and the Union soldier are charming."

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2014:
"Far from the typical Civil War romance...[w]ith rich imagery and imaginative subplots driving the storyline."

BookPage:
"An exciting story—juicy, romantic and at times quite chilling."

From the Publisher

Nickerson sets her retelling of Tam Lin in the American South at the start of the Civil War. Seventeen-year-old Violet has already lost her twin brother to the war, and may soon lose her father when he leaves to join the Confederate Army. In addition to the two slaves and their infant child, her father’s recent marriage has added a new laudanum-addicted stepmother and a flighty stepsister to Scuppernong Farm. Also joining Violet are her two male cousins: Seeley, the young heir to a Virginia plantation who was sent to Violet for safekeeping during the war; and Dorian, his adopted but landless brother whose jealousy threatens to destroy the fragile peace of their little household. One day, Violet and Seeley come across a wounded Union soldier hiding in an abandoned cottage named Thomas. It’s evident that someone—or something—has been attending to Thomas’s wounds, but it’s questionable whether this was due to compassion or a more malevolent reason. In spite of their vast differences, Violet falls in love with Thomas and promises to rescue him from whatever evil is holding him captive. A sense of magic and mysticism surrounds the story, but it is Dorian’s very human threat that creates the most suspense and distrust. Violet’s blind spot towards slavery is especially troubling. Although she claims her slave Laney is her best friend, Violet gives precedence to her shallow stepsister, Sunny, as a confidante, relegating Laney to a diminished role. Never does Violet seriously consider offering freedom to Laney and her family, causing the reader to question the sincerity of their relationship. This is a retelling with potential that does not quite reach the mark. Reviewer: Heather Christensen; Ages 12 up.

Children's Literature - Heather Christensen

Violet Dancey is still reeling from the death of her twin brother, Rush, killed in the war against the North, when her father remarries, bringing in a new stepmother and stepsister Sunny. When her father goes off to join the fight, two cousins—charming Dorian and young boy Seeley—come to reside at Scuppernong Farm, with Dorian casting an eye toward Violet even as he romances a lovestruck Sunny. Seeley and Violet come across a wounded Northern soldier, Thomas, recovering from his injuries and help him to heal. Lurking all throughout the tale are the VanZeldts, a mysterious group of Africans who are whispered to be practicing voodoo with their master, Dr. VanZeldt. The VanZeldts are also helping Thomas, but are their intentions sinister? Blending history and magic, The Mirk And The Midnight Hour—the title comes from the Scottish ballad of Tam Lin, upon which the story is based—is an example of historical romance at its finest. Violet is an irresistible heroine capable of riding to the rescue of any man. In today’s politically correct sensitivities, Nickerson solves part of the potential problem by having Violet’s family treat slaves Laney and Michael as family and having Thomas and Violet argue for their respective sides as they are falling in love. The supernatural element can make or break the book, depending on the reader’s preference. This is a captivating tale rich with mystery that will take any willing reader swept up in its charms along for the ride. Reviewer: Matthew Weaver; Ages 11 to 18.

VOYA, February 2014 (Vol. 36, No. 6) - Matthew Weaver

05/01/2014
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

School Library Journal

2014-01-15
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)

Kirkus Reviews