"An exhilarating Elizabethan adventure featuring a London boy of Beninese heritage who has a magical gift for language"
March 2022 Debut of the Month
Ablaze with atmosphere and adventure, Akala’s The Dark Lady is a radiant, resonant tale of magic, a missing mother, and treachery in Elizabethan London.
Fifteen-year-old Henry lives in poverty in the care of a pair of apothecary sisters. A skilled thief and writer of sonnets, he has an additional extraordinary gift — he “can close his eyes and read languages”. Letters become “colours, shapes, sounds and musical notes. Always a different pattern emerged and it was endlessly beautiful”.
And, with brown skin inherited from his absent Beninese mother, Henry is subject to racism, with England’s insularity and prejudice pertinently portrayed — the rhetoric of foreigners “stealing jobs” is all too familiar.
At the same time, there’s a seamless interweaving of Black history. For example, Henry is amazed to learn about Juan Latino, “a son of slaves who rose to become a professor of Latin at the University of Granada”. Then there’s reference to John Blanke, the famed black trumpeter from Henry VII’s court.
Caught in the act of burgling a wealthy duke, Henry’s language magic earns him a seat at the duke’s opulent table, and grants him an audience with historic figures like Dr John Dee and his idol, Shakespeare. With a wicked sense of humour and pride, Henry is an enormously endearing young man, not least when he rubs his fine clothes and fancy talk in the face of a bigoted baker who previously refused to serve him.
With the action never letting up, a succession of betrayal, intensifying dreams and discoveries about his mother steer Henry towards a land across the sea. Simply fabulous.
A pickpocket with an exceptional gift. A prisioner of extrordinary value. An orphan haunted by dreams of the mysterious dark lady.
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A pickpocket with an exceptional gift. A prisioner of extrordinary value.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Dark Lady and determined it is suitable for children aged 13-18 years old
The Dark Lady features in the following genres: Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Debuts of the Month, Recommendations, Fantasy / Magical, Featured Books for Young Adults, Historical Fiction, Stories in Verse, PSHE: Multiculturalism, Diversity and Inclusion, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Star Books, Featured Books for 13+ readers
Paperback. £8.99, down from the £9.99 cover price. In Stock.
The Dark Lady was written by Akala and published by Hodder Children's Books an imprint of Hachette Children's Group
The Dark Lady has 305 pages
£8.99, reduced from £9.99. In Stock.
