Black Spring
Is there anything more romantic than Catherine and Heathcliff on a misty moor? Croggon (The Singing, 2009) surely doesn’t think so, as her latest is an admirable—if derivative—paranormal retelling of Wuthering Heights, right down to the narrative style and structure. Lina, a willful, independent girl who has the violet eyes indicative of a witch, and Damek, her brooding adopted brother, have a deep and abiding connection that turns into a dangerous, ill-fated romance. Adding to the danger, magic has been unfairly outlawed for women, and Lina’s possible supernatural powers make her a target of scorn and, eventually, violence. All of this conspires to produce an atmosphere dripping with gothic touches and a darkly captivating tale of heartbreaking, destructive passion. For, as Anna, the kindly narrator of much of the novel, says, “there is so little of interest to say about happiness.” Readers unfamiliar with Emily Brontë’s classic will stick around for Lina’s obsessive and doomed romance with Damek, while fans will delight in the clever echoes of the original. Grades 9-12. --Sarah Hunter