And I Darken is a gender-swapped version of the story of Vlad the Impaler (the real-life inspiration for Dracula!). Vlad, now Lada, has been sent to live in the Ottoman courts with her brother Radu as part of a treaty made by their father, the King of Wallachia (an area in modern day Romania). Lada, fierce from birth, knows that the best way to survive is her innate ruthlessness. She bides her time and plots how to leave, until she falls for the Sultan’s son Mehmed, which complicates things slightly.

This is the first book in a trilogy and it is just amazing how much plot White jams into one book. It has a large cast of well-drawn characters and they are all distinct from one another, which, with such a large cast is an enviable feat itself! Although the novel does not stay entirely faithful to history (if Vlad and Mehmed actually had an on-again, off-again romance then history did NOT record it), it’s very close and by following the lives of Lada (Vlad), Radu and Mehmed so closely, it manages to feel very real and encompassing. Lada is a furiously intense character, and her relationship with her brother, the delicate and graceful Radu, is particularly well done. Within the context of a society that prizes graceful women and warrior men neither sibling lives as they are expected to and this certainly has repercussions on their relationship with one another that is played to interesting effect. The novel explores religion in a way that is certainly relevant today, and faith is used by various rulers as an excuse to invade, until, of course, a treaty is more politically beneficial. White is a beautiful writer, and the descriptions of the court and landscapes are full and intricate. Bring on book two!

Isobel Moore