The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson

But then she and Seeley find a wounded Union soldier in an abandoned hunting lodge in the woods. Violet doesn't want this new family, but over time she begins to accept them.

Then her young cousin Seeley comes to live with them, taking Violet's brother's place, and with him comes their older cousin Dorian. And now her father is off to join the rebels, too, leaving her at Scuppernong Farm in Mississippi with a laudanum-addicted stepmother and prim stepsister whom she didn't like as a child. Plot: Violet Dancey lost her twin brother to the War Between the States. There are people with harmful intent, but they're not exactly evil. The Mirk and Midnight Hour kind of lacks a villain. Also intelligent, kind, and sensible, I loved him the moment he came into the story. Then there's Thomas, the wounded Union soldier. Seeley was an adorable, shy, curious kid I immediately loved him. He was too charming, too apt at slipping into whatever persona he needed depending on what company he kept, and too quick to accept what Violet said about his behavior towards Seeley.

I was intensely suspicious of Dorian the moment he stepped into the story. But as the story progressed, Sunny showed her better nature, and like Violet I was able to take her as she was. Like I said, it took me awhile to warm up to Sunny she was pushy and kind of rude and jealous of Violet at first. The other characters were all equally amazing. And I appreciated her perceptiveness when it came to Dorian's true character. Her initial dislike for her stepsister Sunny and laudanum-addicted stepmother made absolute sense it took me awhile to warm up to Sunny. She was sensible and intelligent and practical and just so very relatable. Against the dangers of war and the ominous powers of voodoo, Violet fights to protect her home, her family, and the man she's begun to love.Ĭharacters: I loved Violet.

Someone has been tending to his wounds - keeping him alive - and it becomes chillingly clear that this care hasn't been out of compassion. But there's an uneasiness, too: Violet isn't Thomas's only visitor. Thomas is the enemy - one of the men who might have killed her own brother - and yet she's drawn to him their time together, deep in the wild forest, feels enchanted. When she comes across a severely injured Union soldier lying in an abandoned, vine-shrouded lodge, things begin to change. Grieving and adjusting to life with a new family - a love-crazed stepsister, laudanum-addicted stepmother, and two cousins she doesn't quite know how to handle - Violet feels like a stranger on Scuppernong Farm. Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey is left at home in Mississippi while her father fights in the war against the North - a war that has already claimed her twin brother. The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson