Darcie Wilde is the award-winning author of the Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, a Regency-set historical mystery series inspired by the novels of Jane Austen.The new book in the series is A Counterfeit Suitor.
Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Wilde's reply:
As I’m writing this, fall is turning to winter, a time of year that’s about burrowing under covers and being cozy, and for me, about reading favorites, whether that’s favorite authors, or favorite themes.Visit Darcie Wilde's website.
Now, I have a confession. I have a deep and abiding love for “deal with the devil” stories. I don’t know why, but it’s been a life-long fascination. So, I was delighted to find two new books that take the deal as the premise, and both of them excellent.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab begins with the classic premise that you should be very, very careful what you wishfor. Addie wishes for time, and gets it, but it comes in the form of a highly problematic immortality. She also, like the clever peasant in the fairy tale, thinks she can outsmart the darkness she’s tied herself to. And maybe she will. Eventually.
Ryka Aoki's Light From Uncommon Stars also features a literal deal with a literal devil, or at least a demon. It also geeks out on violins, music, and all kinds of food. It’s also about love, found family, and acceptance. Oh, and there’s a family of intergalactic refugees who run a doughnut shop in L.A. (as one does when one is an intergalactic refugee). This is one of those books that really should not have worked, but it does, and it does so beautifully.
John le Carré also writes about deals with devils. His are not literal, but his very human spies, and those near them do make plenty of bargains and compromises they will come to regret. LeCarre died last year, but he left behind one last novel. Silverview by John le Carré is as much about family, love and reinvention as it is about spies. It’s not le Carré’s absolute best, but it is full of what I love about his books — that is his ability to show such deeply human characters caught up in events that they can’t control, and might never fully understand.
Q&A with Darcie Wilde.
--Marshal Zeringue
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