Shadow in the Dark, written by Antony Barone Kolenc and published by Loyola Press (2020) is the first book in the four-book series The Harwood Mysteries. I have not read the other three. Still, I can heartily recommend this one for middle grade readers.
The novel is set in medieval England (1184) in the days of Henry, son of Empress Matilda. Much of the story takes place in a Benedictine abbey where an unconscious, wounded boy is brought in hopes that he will recover. This is a Roman Catholic world, written about by a Roman Catholic novelist and published by a Roman Catholic press, but evangelical parents need not be concerned for their young readers. There is no praying to saints or to the Virgin in this novel. Instead the novel is full of a young boy, learning to trust God after a harrowing life experience.
The story opens with bandits brutally attacking a village of farmers who work the land of a manor. A boy, aged 11, wanting to defend his father, throws a stone at one of the bandits. The angry bandit chases the boy into the woods and bashes him over the head with a mace. Still alive, the boy is taken unconscious to a nearby abbey where he wakes up with no memory of his name, his family, where he came from or the attack that brought him here.
Brother Andrew gives the boy a name, Xan. Xan stays temporarily in a dormitory at the abbey with boys whose parents died in a plague. A couple of the older boys are bullies, but Xan avoids their traps. He believes he will soon be leaving. Xan and Brother Andrew travel to nearby Hardonbury in hopes of finding Xan's parents. The village and the manor are charred ruins. They learn that any who survived fled to Chadwick Manor. Xan begins to consider prayer and Brother Andrew instructs him about prayer and God.
At the abbey Xan has a dream; he thinks it may be about his mother. He awakens after the dream and several of the boys are gathered at a window. They are watching a dark shadow. To frighten the youngest boys, the older boys tell them it is the angel of death. He has come to claim someone. Not knowing for sure, but caring that the young boys not be frightened, Xan disputes the claim, saying it's just one of the monks, and goes back to bed. But was it?
The next day, Brother Andrew and Xan make the long journey to Chadwick Manor. Xan is recognized by a former villager of Hardonbury. Xan's name is Stephen, and the bandits killed his parents. Xan still has no memory of his parents and scant memory of his life in the village. He must deal with his loss, but how? Life though doesn't stop. The same bandits who attacked Hardonbury attack the abbey. Why are they doing this? Is someone behind them, ordering the destruction? Xan becomes involved in finding out.
As readers follow the mysteries (there is more than one) in the novel, they also will learn about life in medieval England. They will be able to consider how life is different for children in those days than in present days. They will also be able to consider how it is the same.
This novel will hold the interest of young readers. They will root for Xan who is a brave and caring boy. They will be concerned for his predicament and hope that he recovers his memory and finds his parents. When he learns of his parents' deaths, they will feel for his loss and wonder what will happen next. Can anything good happen?
The author believes it can and shows the reader with Xan's story the provision of God. Xan learns about prayer and the value of it. He learns that God is still with him and helping him. Young readers will see that even though people may experience difficult, sad or even frightening times, God is still present, watching over them and providing for them.
I think reading this novel will be time well spent for the middle grade child.
Nancy Ellen Hird is a mom, a writer and a credentialed teacher. (She taught seventh grade and preschool.) I Get a Clue and We All Get a Clue are her most recent works. These novels are mysteries for kids, ages 10 to 13. For several years she was a freelance reviewer of children's and teen's literature for the Focus on the Family website.
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