Prince of Darkness (1969)
Listening: Bad Moon Rising
Mysterious Englishman Peter Stewart has arrived in Middleburg, Maryland to stalk the footsteps of the reclusive millionaire, folklorist Kate More. His intentions are as mysterious as his antecedents, but the further he probes, the more the simmering tensions under the smooth surface of the town become apparent. The racial divides that leave the local African-American population quiet and embittered...the previous owner of the More mansion who claimed to be a warlock and whose legacy casts a long shadow...and the accidental death of the charming young man who was her lover that seems to haunt Kate's worst nightmares...
Spoilers Below
Spoilers Below
As one of MPM's earliest works, Prince is darker in tone than a lot of novels that follow--her Elizabeth Peters persona might get to experiment with light humor and tongue-in-cheek adventures, but Barbara Michaels is still very rooted in the Gothic tradition. Even though in some ways Prince of Darkness feels like a forerunner to Devil May Care, a later Peters book. Both feature a coven of witches masquerading as leading members of small town America. But Devil puts the witches and their evil (mostly) safely in the past. In Prince, they're still running things, baby sacrifice and sexual orgies and all--all brought over from England by a survivor of the Device family, so we get a nifty look at early witchcraft and witch-hunting practices.
It's interesting, because Prince is the first of MPM's books to have African-American characters. Furthermore, they're characters blatantly suffering under the segregation and racism of 60s America. They're insulted and injured, viciously abused by the town leaders (which include a general and a congressman--partakers in the coven as well, it should be noted), refused well-deserved advancement, and the novel simmers throughout with their repressed fury. The implications are clear--they are righteously angry at the outrages perpetrated on them by white America, whose transgressions are as sick as nightmare could paint them. And revolt is in the air.
Moving from political to narrative, there's a trick here that she doesn't repeat (at least to my recollection). This is Peter's veiled character--he first appears in a dingy fish n' chip shop in London, with all the marks of a freshly-finished prison sentence on him. His interest in Kate More seems ominous at best. As we follow his POV through the first half of the book, the possibility of his criminous character is never lifted. He might be charming, but his ultimate goal is never revealed to us...and his immediate ones don't inspire much confidence either. Although it is difficult to make out his quarry's character as well--Kate is distant and sharp-tongued, and seems to carry a guilty conscience around like some people carry a purse. It's an interesting technique, but I can't make up my mind if it makes the revelation in the second half that Peter and Kate are both good guys a delightful surprise or a jarring twist. After all, if you spend 200 pages doubting the key players' sincerity, and then have to backpedal to thinking of them as spotless heroes...it's not subtle.
Another intriguing element is the switch in voice. Up until now, the narratives have been pretty consistently single person--but the first half is narrated by Peter, the second by Kate. It's a nice way to get to know both of them, but MPM never does this particular narrative tactic again. Perhaps she felt Peter took over took too much of the story. After all, it is her heroines who always win my heart. Maybe she felt the same way.
Prince is an unusual read, one that doesn't feel like many of her other works, despite having an academic heroine and a supernatural twist, with the usual dash of romance and mystery and thriller. There's something darker here that I feel doesn't often surface, even in the Michaels novels.
Favorite Line: "He was roused from his pedantic musings by Tiphaine's next song. It was 'Scarborough Fair,' and with a perfectly straight face she gave them the Simon and Garfunkel adaptation instead of the original."
Rating: **
Notes
*Look for Kate's 'scandalous' secret--a child born out of wedlock. It's a weird reminder of just how long ago this book was written...perhaps the more striking because of how relevant the racial tensions still seem.
It's interesting, because Prince is the first of MPM's books to have African-American characters. Furthermore, they're characters blatantly suffering under the segregation and racism of 60s America. They're insulted and injured, viciously abused by the town leaders (which include a general and a congressman--partakers in the coven as well, it should be noted), refused well-deserved advancement, and the novel simmers throughout with their repressed fury. The implications are clear--they are righteously angry at the outrages perpetrated on them by white America, whose transgressions are as sick as nightmare could paint them. And revolt is in the air.
Moving from political to narrative, there's a trick here that she doesn't repeat (at least to my recollection). This is Peter's veiled character--he first appears in a dingy fish n' chip shop in London, with all the marks of a freshly-finished prison sentence on him. His interest in Kate More seems ominous at best. As we follow his POV through the first half of the book, the possibility of his criminous character is never lifted. He might be charming, but his ultimate goal is never revealed to us...and his immediate ones don't inspire much confidence either. Although it is difficult to make out his quarry's character as well--Kate is distant and sharp-tongued, and seems to carry a guilty conscience around like some people carry a purse. It's an interesting technique, but I can't make up my mind if it makes the revelation in the second half that Peter and Kate are both good guys a delightful surprise or a jarring twist. After all, if you spend 200 pages doubting the key players' sincerity, and then have to backpedal to thinking of them as spotless heroes...it's not subtle.
Another intriguing element is the switch in voice. Up until now, the narratives have been pretty consistently single person--but the first half is narrated by Peter, the second by Kate. It's a nice way to get to know both of them, but MPM never does this particular narrative tactic again. Perhaps she felt Peter took over took too much of the story. After all, it is her heroines who always win my heart. Maybe she felt the same way.
Prince is an unusual read, one that doesn't feel like many of her other works, despite having an academic heroine and a supernatural twist, with the usual dash of romance and mystery and thriller. There's something darker here that I feel doesn't often surface, even in the Michaels novels.
Favorite Line: "He was roused from his pedantic musings by Tiphaine's next song. It was 'Scarborough Fair,' and with a perfectly straight face she gave them the Simon and Garfunkel adaptation instead of the original."
Rating: **
Notes
*Look for Kate's 'scandalous' secret--a child born out of wedlock. It's a weird reminder of just how long ago this book was written...perhaps the more striking because of how relevant the racial tensions still seem.
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