Dark Prince is a great gothic novel set in the early 19th century in Cornwall, England. It follows Aiden Warrick on his quest for revenge. The journey leads him to Jane Heatherington, a crippled tavern keeper’s daughter. Unbeknownst to Jane, her father has gone into debt with Aiden and in order to save her father’s livelihood she must indenture herself to Aiden for seven years. Aiden finds himself drawn to Jane’s innocence and vows to protect her from danger, even if that means protecting her from him. Jane is attracted to Aiden and enjoys the way he ignores her crippled leg. As the days progress, the two bring out damaged emotions from within each other and begin another journey, the journey to emotional health.
Ms. Silver wrote a dark, gothic novel that stays true to the time period. She introduced wreckers (men who cause ships to crash on rocks), gothic novels (Ann Radcliffe), and medicine from the time period to those of us in the twenty-first century. This information is brought in an interesting manner guaranteed to grab the reader’s attention.
The author was also unafraid to have a physically imperfect heroine with little hope of ever being ‘whole’. The heroine is beautiful and competent. She is also able to catch a gorgeous man despite her physical deformity giving hope to the idea that beauty is found within.
The drama is moody but refreshing. There are no added sex scenes for shock value leaving me to believe in the unfolding relationship. I wanted the couple to succeed and so will you when you read Dark Prince.
