Kirsty Capes reviews And I Darken by Kiersten White…
Kiersten White’s first instalment in her Conquerors trilogy is full of promise for a story of epic proportions, as White carves out the powerful origins of her heroine, Lada and her companions.
And I Darken follows Lada, a Wallachian princess, and her little brother Radu as they are bartered by their father in exchange for power in his home country. Lada and Radu are ‘given’ to the Ottoman Empire, under the rule of the sultan Murad II, who has a fondness for extravagant parties, petty wars and vindictive punishment. Lada and Radu both navigate the Ottoman courts differently in order to survive, and their relationship with Murad’s son Mehmed is at the core of this story.
The first act of the novel is a little slow despite its vitality in terms of context and set-up for the rest of the story. Lada and Radu’s childhood in Wallachia is detailed in vivid, carefully constructed description which is laid out painstakingly by White. Despite the elaborate detail afforded for the kingdom of Walalchia, it’s difficult to establish an investment in the story during this section of the novel, making it something of a slog. And I Darken is a young adult novel, so the audience is expecting tropes typical of the genre. Those tropes do come, but a lot later on. As a historical novel, Kiersten White demonstrates incredible skill when it comes to her sweeping narrative which spans decades and continents; very well executed indeed.
Meanwhile characters are just as well rounded, and it’s clear that an immense amount of planning and thought has gone in to the various components which are the essence of the story. Lada and Radu are like chalk and cheese and Mehmed is mysterious, his motivations often veiled to the reader. In her afterword, White talks about how her characters are based upon real-life historical figures. Mehmed the Conqueror really did exist, and Lada is a gender-bent Vlad the Impaler. White comments that she wanted to demonstrate the nuances of these characters, that history was not just about good and evil, and reminds us that the books are always written by the victors. She certainly succeeds in this notion in her portrayal of nearly all characters in the book. I was a little disappointed that Bogdan, a childhood friend of Lada’s had such an important role in the opening chapters, and only a cursory return to the story in the final pages. I hope that book two will do the character more justice.
Something that I found a little frustrating was the portrayal of Lada as a feminist heroine. There are plenty of things about Lada that could be considered feminist: her refusal to marry, her lack of feeling of obligation to men or patriarchal structures. But White often seems to confuse feminist traits with behaviours and characteristics that simply mimic men. She fails to realise that there is strength in feminine behaviour, even though plenty of female characters in the novel, particularly the woman from the sultan’s harem, who amply demonstrate this. Instead Lada opts for masculine behaviours and aspires to be a man by joining the Ottoman Janissaries. In her determination to be brutish, she loses the reader’s sympathy, particularly in her most cruel and heartless moments. And after White works so hard to establish Lada as a feminist hero, the story abruptly turns in to a romance and undoes all of the writer’s hard work.
Despite all of this, And I Darken is well worth a read for its startlingly vivid landscapes and characters. Each person plays a vital role within the story, and the novel reads like a well-oiled machine, each piece of the puzzle carefully considered before being inserted into its chosen place. The story begins as a rather insular plot about two snivelling noble children, and evolves into an epic of sorts, with plenty of twists thrown in for good measure. White is truly a master of the craft, and And I Darken is an intelligent historical read rather different to the genre’s current offering. I’ll definitely by sticking around for book two in this promising trilogy!
Rating: 8/10
Kirsty Capes
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Originally published July 25, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
