Darker Still  is a beautifully written book with lyrical prose wrapped in a Victorian setting where language is the paramount vehicle for communication and ironically where the heroine is mute.  Author Leanna Renne Hieber has created a wondrous world where mystery, mayhem and magic abound. Where a young woman on the cusp of becoming an adult is open to all the untold possibilities the world has to offer; and where faith, courage and love are the touchstones needed to face the next step in her journey.

Natalie Stewart is almost eighteen, finished with school and living in New York City with her father. She is shy but not unaware, unable to speak but filled with thoughts she wants desperately to share. Her mind is fully engaged in life but unable to communicate in conventional ways; her inability to speak has left her on the sidelines of life. If she were any other young woman of that time she would be attending a flurry of social events and aquatinting herself with young men and preparing for marriage. As it is, most people don’t know what to make of her or what to do with her.  Being mute is often mistaken for being deaf and consequently being ‘less than’. But Natalie is a young woman of deep thoughts and feelings. She’s smart, well read and curious.  

Ms Hieber has created a heroine we can all relate to. A heroine who is like any  young woman on the brink of adulthood living in that short in-between time where we have so much to say, so many things we want to accomplish, and a hunger for beginning our lives.  A time when we are so close to discovering what we are made of and how far we can push the limits of our potential.

In Darker Still Natalie’s beginning is just about to start. Her quiet world is turned upside down when a portrait of the English Lord Denbury comes to New York. The painting is rumored to be haunted, and in the 1880’s when spiritualism was on the rise and people were fascinated with séances, the occult and mysteries of the beyond, Lord Denbury’s portrait is getting a lot of attention.  It is in this setting that we find our heroine suddenly thrust from the sidelines of life into the epicenter of a mystery; a mystery she must solve if she’s to save the man she loves.

When Natalie first gazes upon Lord Denbury’s portrait she is immediately taken with his countenance and drawn to his image. But soon Natalie discovers there is far more to the painting, in fact, Lord Denbury is actually trapped within the painting and Natalie is the only one who can help to break the curse that seals him in.

Ms. Hieber’s words draw you into the past with a vibrancy and alacrity that immediately puts you into a young woman’s world where magic co-exists with reality. Through Natalie’s diary entries, she cleverly weaves together the unique timbre and tone of 1880’s, the frenzy of spiritualism and the occult, the nuances of the relationship between Natalie and Jonathan (Lord Denbury), and the courage of a young woman facing the unknown. As we read the entries we are subtly but completely drawn into Natalie’s life and become just as anxious and excited as Natalie to solve the mystery that will free Jonathan.

Darker Still  is an historical paranormal novel, but more than that, it’s a book about the rite of passage. Through Natalie, Ms. Hieber allows us to take a journey of discovery where critical decisions determine how she will live her life. It becomes the underlying tension in the book and gives us a mute heroine whose words are critical.

This is the first book in the Magic Most Foul trilogy. It grabbed hold of my imagination and I'm excited to find out what Ms.Hieber has in store for Natalie and Jonathan. It is also considered a Young Adult book. But before you say “I don’t do YA”, take a moment to consider books like the Hunger Games and Twilight.  What Darker Still has in common with these books is a heroine with the strength of her convictions and a story arc that is intriguing but also crosses gender and generation. It’s the kind of book you can talk about with your mother, daughter and granddaughter; and what’s better than sharing what you love to read with the people you love?

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