Customer Reviews

An Acquaintance With Darkness

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Award winning author Ann Rinaldi has once again
brought history to life in this engaging, captivating
historical novel.
It's 1865, the place is Washington, D.C. Emily Bransby Pigbush, a
fourteen year old orphan, has come to live with her
wealthy uncle. When President Lincoln is assasinated, her
best friend's family is suspected of harboring the assasin.
Her uncle forbids her to see her friend, drivng a rift between the
two.
And then Emily discovers that her uncle, a highly
respected physician, is a body snatcher, robbing
graves for bodies to study for medical purposes. Emily
just can't accept what her uncle is doing.
But as Emily begins to learns more about her uncle,
she begins to realize that what her uncle is doing
may be for the good of people. Her uncle's sole purpose
is to learn more about the body so he can help develop
cures, and he's only resorted to body snatching
because he can't get corpses legally.
Although the subject matter of this book may seem
a bit gruesome at first, it's really an excellant,
well written historical novel. Read it, or you're missing
out on a great book!

An Acquaintance with Darkness is a very well written novel. It's a novel of historical fiction and takes place right around Lincoln's assassination. The main character, Emily, tells the story. Emily's life is a mess, like most people during that time. Her dad just died in the Civil War. Her mother is dying, of 'failing' as they say. Her mother's death wish is for Emily's uncle, Uncle Valentine, to stay away from her once she dies. Emily's mother knows something about Uncle Valentine that she feels is not right, but Emily does not know what. After her mother passes away, Uncle Valentine, unknown to Emily, goes to court and gains full custody over her. Lincoln is assassinated and Washington is going insane. Anyone associated with Booth, Lincoln's killer, was arrested. Unfortunately Emily's best friend, Annie's, mother was of close association with Booth. Mrs. Mary, Annie's mother is arrested, in prison, and condemned to be hung. this only gives Emily more confusion, not to mention the fact that her secret crush, Annie's brother Johnny, has run away and has not been heard from, plus Emily is living with her uncle. At first this seemed a fine arrangement until Emily learns that there is more to her uncle's profession as a doctor. With the city in an uproar, Emily doesn't know what to do, where to go, who to talk to, or even who she can trust. Emily is left alone and confused. This is such a great, involved novel. Some of it is fictional, but much of the basis for the story is factual. The book is so good that you would have never known that it wasn't entirely true if you didn't read the Author's note.

Emily Pigbush is an orphan. In the first few chapters of the book, she loses her mother, and her father is long gone from the war.She is left to live with her best friend Annie, the daughter of Mary Surratt.That night, there is a great outcry in the city of Washington, where Emily lives. Mr. Lincoln, the president, has been shot dead. Emily is even more stunned when she hears who had done it-- the man who had been staying with the Surratt's, John Wilkes Booth. The Surratts are thrust into investigation for connection to the murder. Emily is sent to stay with her rich uncle instead, Valentine. She gets along well there, until she uncovers a sinister secret from a woman staying in the house -- her uncle could be a bodysnatcher. She pursues the idea, quietly, until she is confronted at school by a reporter's daughter. Her fears are confirmed when she sees the proof with her own eyes. She loses herself in her own emotions; love for Robert, a man Valentine saved, hate for all of them.

A very good illustration of the Civil War and the unjustly accused.

This book was an awesome book by Ann Rinaldi. This story takes place during the time right after Lincoln was assinated. A girl named Emily has a mother who is deadly ill. Her mother knew that she was about to die and she told Emily that she needed to live wih someone. Emily wants to live wiht her aunt in Philidelphia, but her om wants her to live with her good friend next door. Emily's uncle Valintine comes into town to see Emily's mother. Valintine tries to tell Emily that she needs to come live with him. emily's mother doesn't want Emily to go live with him. Emily decides to go visit her uncle. While she is there she meets an old crazy black lady that lives upstairs. She tells Emily that her uncle has a big secert and that Emily needs to help get the old lady out. Emily is told that the big seceret is in her uncle's shed where NO ONE is allowed. To find out the secert you have to read this awesome book!!!

This was one of my favorite Rinaldi books, out of all 12 that I've read. Emily Pigbush's mother dies in the beginning, and she has to choose between living with Annie Suratt, Mary Suratt's daughter, and her Uncle Valentine, a very good doctor. When she ends up unwillingly staying with her Uncle, she learns something terrible about him, that forces her to run away. When his assistant finds her and brings her home, Emily discovers that the crime her uncle commits is for the good of everyone. I don't want to give it away, but this book is fascinating, and I forgot to say that it is during the time of Lincoln's assassination. I would reccommend ALL of Rinaldi's books, even though I haven't read them all. I just know they're good anyways!

Ann Rinaldi perfectly captured the scene of President Lincoln's assassinaqtion and focusing on the troubles that followed the event. "An Acquatiance with Darkness," was an extremely entertaining historical novel with a twist of evil. As someone who never found an interest in a historical novel before, this book, based around Lincoln's assassination left me turning pages eagrly. His assassination lead to many problems in the life of Ms. Emily Pigbush. Rinaldi leads you day by day through her life and explains her feelsings towards the trials of her friend's mother, the search for her beloved friend who disappeared, and the secrets that she uncovers about her highly respected uncle, Dr. Valentine. As much as the story seems plainly laid before you,you later find out that it is not as simple as it seems. This book is filled with hate, love, evil, and an all over feeling of jealousy. Even though thi book is a historical, Rinaldi did not dwell on the actual assassination, but its effects. The time peroid was very vividly described giving you a feeling that you are actually there when the4 soldiers return home from fighting the Civil War. Even though it is mostly about Emily, that doesn't mean in any way that the story is girlish or based on her adolescent problems. The book is perfectly appropriate for a girl or a boy. This book may not be for everyone, but I strongly encourage anyone looking for a book about a very important time in history with a twist of lies and evil I would suggest, "An Acquaintance with Darkness." Another plus to this book would be that knowing that it is a historical novel, the events did take place. AT the very end of the book, the author wrote a little section about what really happened to all the characters after she stopped writing. She also explained more about what was going on at the time period in detail. This book was very enjoyable and I would suggest it to anyone at any age level.

A fan of Rinaldi, I was looking forward to reading this book. The original plot was set up well, but as I read on it became more gruesome and frightening with every page. Its title says it all: the book is just plain dark. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone not in for a horror story. Dead bodies, detailed accounts of hangings, nightmares, and assasinations are not what I look forward to in Ann Rinaldi's books.

I have read many of Ann Rinaldi's books and I think they are wonderful! She puts so much detail into them, it is unbelievable! Forteen-year-old Emily lives in Washington D.C. during the Civil War. Her mother has died and she is going to live with the Surratt's. But the son, Johnny, has been accused of being in on the assasination of the president. Her uncle takes her to live with him because the Surratt's house is under suspicion, which is against her mother's wishes. She had always hated Uncle Valentine for what reason, Emily does not know. But she has no choice. Then she finds out that her uncle may be in on body snatching! He uses the bodies for research. Can Emily confront her uncle or does she have to bear the guilt of going against her mother's wishes?

This book was my first Ann Rinaldi book. I was stunned by it. It was just absolutly wonderful- filled with everything and just about anything you could want, (at least what I wanted). It was my favorite book. If you're a great historical fiction lover and/or Ann Rinaldi story lover this would be an extrememly nice addition for your reading buds.
The book's main character (whom you've probably already found out) is fourteen year old Emily Pigbrush, who experiences through many tragic events. First her widow mother dies and she decides to live with her best friend, Annie Surratts. But on the night before she moves out the greatest of all misfortunes happen - President Lincoln gets shot and suspicion falls on the Surratts. Forced to go and live with Uncle Valentine, Emily finds out more as to why her mother hated her brother so much. As to the rest, you really should find out yourself. In the end the story leaves you a strange feeling. One that signals the end but it leaves you kind of sad. Over all it's a great book.

Emily Bransby Pigbush finds herself in the midst of turmoil in Washington DC at the end of the Civil War. For a poverty-stricken girl nursing a mother dying of tuberculosis, she is very much in the thick of events. Everything starts to go wrong for Emily. Her proud, genteel mother scorns family and friends, so Emily is the sole caretaker in the end. Emily's mother was an assistant to Mrs. Lincoln's dressmaker, and Emily's friend, Johnny is conspiring for the Confederacy with John Wilkes Booth.

When Emily is orphaned, she goes to live in luxury with her uncle (whom her mother always hated). This uncle is a prominent doctor and medical researcher with extensive war experience and a scientific mind. To further medical science, he must supply his medical students with cadavers-which are mainly available through grave robbery.

Emily is characterized with a nice blend of strength and naivete, appropriate for her age as a child about to blossom into womanhood. The relationships to her friends-both the fierce loyalty for one and an extreme antipathy for another-are not well fleshed out, which is a failing, since the friends and enemies are so influential to the life paths she takes.

The story is a good one, but it really needed to be either longer, or shorter. Emily seems to be connected by only 1 or 2 degrees of separation to all the important events of the day, rather than the usual 6 or so. Everything seems to touch her life-John Wilkes Booth and the theater, confederate soldiers and spies, science and superstition, recently freed slaves and former slave owners, jails, executions, herbal lore, night blooming plants, etc. Rinaldi packs too many historical threads in the book without fleshing them out sufficiently with characters and stories.

An Acquaintance with Darkness is a good book for leisure reading. It would also be well placed as assignment to provoke curiosity about the end of the Civil War. There are certainly enough topics to springboard into many different research projects, and each student could pick up the thread that interested them most. Rinaldi supplies a bibliography and historical note which students could use to segue into those topics.