Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton is the second of The Mirror books, a young adult historical fantasy series featuring a family curse across generations. The book evokes fairy tales and forbidden romance in the atmospheric world of 1920s New Orleans, exploring the hierarchies that the characters face in their daily lives, as well as the joys of love and music amidst this.
When we first meet the protagonist, Zora Broussard is a jazz-loving girl who’s been forced to leave her family, after she’d unintentionally harmed someone with her magic in New York. She’s now hiding from her past in New Orleans, hiding under a new name, and hiding her magic—or at least trying to. Yet when she is unable to restrain her powers, her aunt takes her to see a ‘conjure woman’ who offers her a magical bargain that is reminiscent of fairy tale tropes. Zora can rid herself of the magic in two months’ time—but the cost will be the source of its power inside her, her abilities for music.
The concept of self-erasure and the many dimensions of life where it can manifest is prominent throughout the story. Zora questions how far she should go in order to cope with her unwanted circumstances—not only in terms of her ‘curse’ but also due to race, in a world of “colored folks needing to bend themselves into shapes to deal with white people, needing to soften their tongues, or to adopt different personalities.” Zora continues to suppress her magic and must sneak out at night to enjoy music, and thinks of the times when her mother and aunt passed as white in public as a necessity to avoid the usual unfavourable treatment Black women received. When she has to disguise herself at a crucial point, it’s also an action out of necessity which she hates undertaking. I found these tensions compelling, and they’re identifiable to any marginalised person who’s felt the need to minimise one’s traits and truths while in a minority context.
Buy the Book
Shattered Midnight
The setting of 1920s New Orleans had shaped much of my excitement for the story, and Clayton’s immersive writing transported me deeply into its jazz scene. As a newcomer to the city, Zora’s explorations of jazz in New Orleans is rife with adventurous experiences of night clubs, new relationships which form through this shared passion, and her own growth as a musician. The book touches on the emotional significance of jazz for the Black Americans from whom it originated, a comforting reminder of how creation and joy is possible, in spite of the ways one is treated by society, as well as disdainful attitudes towards women in jazz that Zora encounters.
Racial oppression and division is also implicated in Zora’s experiences of jazz music. Bands constituting both Black and white musicians were forbidden, and many clubs restrict Black people from entry. The impact of this becomes more personal when Zora meets a white musician, Philip, and they form a romantic relationship. Their attraction develops quickly, and it’s holding on to each other which emerges as the main source of conflict. Zora grapples with the differences between them (for example, Philip had a privileged upbringing where he learnt jazz music from a Black housekeeper), and it’s an ongoing process for them to try and empathise with each other. In parallel, they must figure out their future by taking into account external realities, in a place where their marriage would be illegal:
“We could both go to jail. We could be hurt. White people don’t want to share bus seats with colored people, let alone see us together. […] The world can hurt us. The world can hurt me for loving you.”
The book was great at escalating the stakes throughout—Zora’s romantic bond with Philip heightens the emotional cost if she gives up her music, yet also reinforces her desire to ensure that her magic doesn’t endanger them. This made for a fast-paced read as I rooted for the two of them, and wondered at the mysteries surrounding their connection. The story ends on a bittersweet and somewhat open-ended note, and however much I would have celebrated a purely joyful ending, this felt apt in light of the social realities which they’d faced throughout the book.
Shattered Midnight touches on the connections with the previous generation of characters in the Mirror series. Although I didn’t feel my experience of the core story was hindered in spite of not having read Broken Wish beforehand, these aspects intrigued me strongly enough that I definitely plan to do so, now and before reading subsequent books in the series. If you enjoy classic fairy tales but also want a story that’s more surprising than most direct retellings, this is a great novel which weaves in elements from several stories into the real-world challenges of a young Black musician’s journey.
Shattered Midnight is available from Disney Hyperion.
Wendy Chen is a writer and reviewer based in Sydney, Australia. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthology Meet Me at the Intersection (Fremantle Press, 2018). You can find more of her book recommendations on her blog, and on Instagram @writteninwonder_
