Darkling

As her father seems to be getting his life together two years after her mother's death, fifteen-year-old Petra has a strange encounter with an eccentric old recluse that somehow links her father and her to a tragic past love affair.

From Booklist

Gr. 6^-9. When Petra makes a delivery to the estate of the town's ancient and mysterious hermit one eerie Halloween night, readers know they can get ready for a good gothic yarn. She reminds old Mr. Century of his long-lost love, Euridice, who died tragically just before their wedding decades ago. Then there's Petra's father, who is dealing ineffectively with the sudden accidental death of his wife, and the burden of grief that his difficulties place on Petra and her younger brother. Strangely, and a bit confusingly, alas, Euridice's spirit somewhat takes over Petra, particularly after Mr. Century's death and as her father's torment increases. A shadow on her bedroom wall, the Darkling, speaks eerily to her and helps communicate the mysterious happenings. Strong characterizations and a satisfying end help this British first novel, which should appeal to gothic fantasy fans. Anne O'Malley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10AThe Darkling is what 15-year-old Petra McCoy has always called the shadow cast on her bedroom ceiling by an odd-shaped tree branch. Life has not been kind to Petra-her mother died two years earlier and her kind but ineffectual father is unable to hold a steady job. Things go from bad to worse when her paper route takes her to Century Hall, the home of 102-year-old Edmund Century. He sees a resemblance in Petra to his long-dead fianc?e, Eurydice Tremain, and starts sending her mysterious presents, but dies just days after they meet. Soon after his death, the Darkling is seemingly transformed from a shadow to a malevolent spirit that haunts the teen's days as well as her nights. Is her father really losing his tentative grasp on reality at last, or is the Darkling/Edmund taking over his body in its yearning to be near Petra/Eurydice? This is a moody but murky story with more competing elements and loose ends than it has room to explore. Petra's father's transformation and downfall are the main story, but her best friend's brother's change from geek to the love of her life, her hatred of her father's former co-worker and current employer (with elements of possible sexual abuse hinted at), and his sudden interest in turning Century Hall into a hotel could each become novels in themselves, as could the long-ago romance of Edmund and Eurydice. This is a fast-moving British gothic with elements of YA problem novel added-an additional purchase where the genre is popular.ASusan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Butler creates a likable heroine and fine, atmospheric prose to draw readers along, but it's not enough to sustain the faulty plotting of this mystery. While on her paper route, Petra, 15, delivers a package to eccentric Edmund Century, who is about to turn 102. He forms a strange bond with Petra, and endows her with three odd gifts--the significance of which the reader never finds out--before he shortly thereafter dies. The secret of his attachment to her slowly and mysteriously unravels through a silhouette on her bedroom wall that Petra had nicknamed ``the Darkling'' when she was a child. This formerly harmless shadow takes on the spirit of Edmund Century and seeks out his long, lost love whose spirit resides in Petra. Add a spiritually possessed father, a sick brother, a disappearing housekeeper, and the father's child-molesting boss, and the plot thickensto an outright muddle. The mystery never comes together: Resolutions remain elusive, except for those explanations with a basis in some confusing real-estate dealings; the storyline of the dead characters is a wedged-in afterthought. (Fiction. 12-14) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A clever, self-sufficient first-person narrator gives this debut British ghost story a boost, but not enough to redeem the disorienting elements of the plot. To 15-year-old Petra, "The Darkling," a face-like shadow on her bedroom wall, has always appeared menacing. When an ancient, dying man gives her presents because she reminds him of a lost love, Petra's fears become real. Old Mr. Century passes away and speaks to her through the Darkling. He then takes possession of her widower father and alternately attacks her and pleads with her to return his affections. The promise of the premise is never fully achieved: readers never learn the contents of a mysterious bottle given her by Mr. Century (which appears to be the catalyst for the strange changes in her father), what the old man's connection is to her father's insidious employer nor why the spell over her father finally breaks. Ages 12-up. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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