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Jump to navigationJump to searchCharlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino (view source)
Revision as of 14:02, 9 May 2018
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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling
|author=Michael Boccacino
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1781164464
|pages=320
|publisher=Titan Books
|date=July 2012
|website=http://michaelboccacino.com
|video=
|summary=It's hard to sum up in a few lines, but here goes. It starts a Victorian gothic murder mystery. It then becomes the embodiment of a dark fantasy nightmare. It's very, very, very good.
|cover=Boccacino_Charlotte
|aznuk=1781164460
|aznus=B008LTHHCQ
}}
Widowed under tragic circumstances, Charlotte Markham needs an income and so she's employed by widower Henry Darrow as a governess for his sons James and Paul. Their home 'Everton' may seem a typical Victorian mansion but the town of Blackfield isn't your average English small town; the Darrow's Nanny Prum is found murdered in a particularly grisly manner. It's a mystery to the local police but Charlotte's friend Susannah has a clue if only they'd listen to her. Meanwhile the Darrow boys' nights are spent dreaming of a house in the woods where their mother still lives. Charlotte decides to treat this head on and takes them for a walk to show them there's no substance to it. However, in doing so they discover the nightmare that is The House of Darkling.
American Michael Boccacino wrote this, his debut novel, as a response to dreams he was having about his own late mother. Michael's dreams stopped short of a mysterious wood but the novel goes further, wandering through the trees to a house and inhabitants that leach out into Charlotte Markham's real world. Mr B certainly has an imagination; this is a gothic novel unlike any other.
The best way to explain it is as a story onion. The skin of the story is the seemingly normal Victorian tale of a governess and those with whom she comes in contact. Once the skin has been stripped away, there's an eerie murder with a hint of a modern [[:Category: Wilkie Collins|Wilkie Collins]]. That phase doesn't linger too long though as, page by page, further layers are discarded taking you into the strangest world and acquainting you with the oddest occupants. The author has likened it to the work of Tim Burton. Indeed, it's very Tim Burton but I could also spot a splash of [[:Category:Neil Gaiman|Neil Gaiman]] and [[:Category:China Mieville|China Mieville]], (related stylistically rather than plagiarised) and it's a recipe that works.
For me the cleverness arises from the credibility; as odd as things became, they inhabited my imagination and refused to budge. Charlotte isn't the primmest of governesses but this is a career choice born of unexpected bereavement, not training. She clearly loves her young charges and her ability to humour and play with them increases her attractiveness to 21st century readers. Henry Darrow is straitjacketed by sorrow, stiff upper lip and convention. In some ways he's an American's idea of an Englishman (yes, another book with cream in the tea) but, at the same time, manages to remain faithful to the story's setting. The boys are charming and true to life, coping with their mother's loss as befitting their age: moments of normality interspersed with mourning and painful remembrances.
If you've enjoyed this, then maybe try [[Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink]].
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[[Category:Historical Fiction]]
