"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.
| Suitable For: | |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
We've got some great stuff related to this book in our KidsZone.
Head over there and check it out now.
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. Temporarily Out Of 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. Temporarily Out Of Stock.
