The Dark Academicals

We read the first book in this series, ‘Belladonna’, back in season seven and we’re so excited to revisit Signa at Thorn Grove following the cliffhanger at the end of the first novel.

‘Belladonna’ is one of the most fun books we’ve read for the podcast and I think this is just going to be just enjoyable.

The dangerous, seductive and suspenseful New York Times bestselling sequel to the Gothic fantasy romance Belladonna.

A duke has been murdered. The lord of Thorn Grove has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous estate nearby. He's hellbent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman he loved many years ago . . . and now he's determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost.

Signa and her cousin Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from prison if they will entertain his presence. But the more time the girls spend with Fate, the more frightening their reality becomes as Signa exhibits dramatic new powers that link her to Fate's past. With mysteries and danger around every corner, the cousins must decide if they can trust one another as they navigate their futures in high society, unravel the murders that haunt their family, and play Fate's unexpected games-all with their destinies hanging in the balance.

But will it hit any of the tropes to make it dark academia? Or will the mystery win out?

In this episode we discuss:

The way the novel raises issues of women, marriage, bodily autonomy in a vague historical setting

Fate vs Death

The need for justice for Blythe and Eliza

Our dark academia adjacent title for this season is one of Sophie’s favourite books. ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier is a masterclass in Gothic suspense and it’s something that we’ve needed to tackle on the podcast for a very long time.

On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs de Winter walks in her shadow.

Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the other woman. An international bestseller that has never gone out of print, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.

This is going to be Sarah’s first read of this novel and we’re so excited to head to Manderley for an adventure into the Gothic - a foundation of dark academia.

In this episode we discuss:

Villains and sympathising with villains

Maxim’s obsession with Mrs De Winter’s youth and innocence

We discuss the power of weather and seasons acting as a character

Our second episode of this season takes us to London, Karachi and New Dehli in Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi’s debut novel, ‘The Centre’.

This one leapt onto our radar as soon as that incredibly arresting cover was unveiled and we found out it was about a prestigious translation centre - it had to be a podcast book!

Welcome to The Centre. The cost may be high, but you'll never be the same . . .

Anisa Ellahi longs to become a translator of 'great works of literature', but right now she is stuck in her London flat writing subtitles for Bollywood films.

Then she is told about the Centre, an elite, invite-only programme that guarantees complete fluency in any language in just ten days. Seduced by all that it could make possible, Anisa enrols. But the Centre's services come at a disturbing hidden cost. Still - it's worth it, right? After all, success comes at a price . . .

By turns dark, funny and surreal, The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi takes the reader on a journey through Karachi, London and New Delhi. Throughout it interrogates the sticky politics of language, translation and appropriation and asks: what price would you be willing to pay for success?

‘The Centre’ is undoubtedly going to be an interesting and thought-provoking read, but how does it fit into dark academia?

In this episode we discuss:

The intersection of translation and colonialism

The potentially meta nature of a book within a book

Privilege, money, power and the intersections with living abroad

Season 9 of ‘The Dark Academicals’ is HERE - we’re back! - and we’re starting off with a huge debut that is being marketed as dark academia Black vampires and honestly, say less.

Hidden in our world, a society of vampires originating in Africa, can only feed from select human bloodlines. Each bloodline represents a House more cutthroat than the next. To ensure peaceful co-existence and inherit their legacy, human children of these families must study at an elite university before choosing a vampire companion.

Lost Heiress, Kidan Adane grew up far from Uxlay University. She is obsessively protective, mildly nihilistic, and willing to do anything to save her loved ones. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her - the alluring yet dangerous Susenyos Sagad, the same vampire bound to her own House.

To stay in Uxlay, Kidan must study an arcane philosophy, work with four enigmatic students, and survive living with Susenyos - even as he does everything to drive her away. It doesn't matter that Susenyos' violence speaks to her own and tempts Kidan to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill him at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June's disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. Here, she discovers a centuries-old threat. And June could be at the very centre of it.

The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia debut, where a lost heiress must infiltrate a secret society and live with the vampire she suspects kidnapped her sister.

With calls to ‘Ninth House’ and ‘The Cruel Prince’, vampires and a whole new mythology, this could be starting off the season with a bang. But how does this fantasy really live up to the tropes of dark academia?

In this episode we discuss:

Vampire lore within literature

The cause and effect of genre and literary categorisation

Susenyos, Kidan, and everything it could have been.

It’s finally happening! We’re going back to the beginning and re-examining ‘The Secret History’ with 8 seasons of the podcast behind us and this season of reading Tartt’s influences - how has our list of tropes held up? Do we still love the novel whole-heartedly?

'Everything, somehow, fit together; some sly and benevolent Providence was revealing itself by degrees and I felt myself trembling on the brink of a fabulous discovery, as though any morning it was all going to come together---my future, my past, the whole of my life---and I was going to sit up in bed like a thunderbolt and say oh! oh! oh!'

Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.

We’re so excited to revisit this novel and re-examine it with our updated knowledge and experience of dark academia.

Donna Tartt herself cited Patricia Highsmith’s ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ as a book that was important to her when writing ‘The Secret HIstory’, and as that idea is the basis for this season, we had to give this one a whirl! There’s also been a recent Netflix mini-series adaptation so it’s a story that’s had a recent resurgence - it felt like time.

Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a chance to start over.

Ripley wants money, success and the good life and he's willing to kill for it. When his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.

Both of us went into this novel blind with very little knowledge of the story or the characters, just the sense of the legacy of Highsmith as an acclaimed author. How clearly will we be able to see the influences in ‘The Secret History’?

'Frankenstein' is a literary staple. Everyone has heard of it, and most discerning reader will have either read it or have it on their TBR. Groundbreaking, pivotal and genre making... But how much of an influence does it have on modern dark academia?

‘Stoner’ is a classic campus novel that has been on my (Sophie’s TBR) for years and years - it’s one of those novels that is almost universally loved.

It’s going to be very interesting to see the comparisons between seminal campus novels from opposite sides of the Atlantic. We’ve featured Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’, and now it’s the turn of ‘Stoner’.

Ancient literature? Yeah, we’re going there!

‘Bacchae’ is the play, the source material, the inspiration, for the adventures and dangers that Henry and Co get in to during ‘The Secret History’. It’s a foundational text for this novel and lays the groundwork for the conflict and the goal of the book, and shapes and sets the tone for the academic tones and goals in dark academia.

Bacchae, a profound exploration of the human psyche, deals with the appalling consequences of resistance to Dionysus, god of wine and unfettered emotion. This tragedy, which above all others speaks to our post-Freudian era, is one of Euripides' two last surviving plays.

This is the first time we’ve ever encountered ancient literature on the podcast, and our first deep dive into the underlying inspirations for ‘The Secret History’ - we’re so excited about getting deep on this season of the podcast and connecting with the novel and Tartt’s inspiration. This play changed her life!

Welcome to season 8 of The Dark Academicals!

We’re kicking off with ‘Black Chalk’ by Christopher J Yates, a psychological thriller campus novel from 2013, that features on nearly every dark academia reading list out there. It’s much more similar to the earlier dark academia than our explorations of modern dark academia so we were eager to really give it a go.

One game. Six students. Five survivors. It was only ever meant to be a game played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University; a game of consequences, silly forfeits, and childish dares. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal and more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, 14 years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round. Who knows better than your best friends what would break you? A gripping psychological thriller partly inspired by the author's own time at Oxford University, this is perfect for fans of The Secret History and The Bellwether Revivals. The author's background in puzzle writing and setting can clearly be seen in the plotting of this clever, tricky book that will keep readers guessing to the very end.

With an Oxford setting, a dangerous game, and fracturing friendship, this has the makings of everything we look for for the podcast. Will it make the cut?