This Dark Heart

Inspired by a fusion of British, Indian and Kenyan culture, Zeena Gosrani’s ambitious YA debut novel is an adept sapphic switch of the story of Rama and Sita which focuses on a prince rescuing his princess from a demon king. With interlocking tropes of vampires and zombies fuelled by the Daayan of Indian folklore, demonic beings who ‘devour their victim from the inside out’, the novel is aimed at astounding and enthralling readers of horror and myth looking for strong queer representation.

Gosrani modelled her heroine Thiya on the indomitable Julie d’Aubigny, a seventeenth century bisexual cross dressing French opera singer who defended her girlfriend’s honour in a death-defying duel. Within the fantasy framework is a story of elemental magic, unquenchable passion and sacrifice.

Threatened by a tide of malignant darkness caused by an onslaught of daayan attacks, Thiya must draw on all the courage she has to rescue her true forbidden love Amara from its clutches but at what cost? Accompanying her on her perilous journey are her faithful brother Lochan and fire wielder mage Kayan each with their own problems. As Gosrani builds up to the climax, class divides, conflicting loyalties, betrayals, tragic losses, shocking family secrets, and lies are brought into the mix.

While Gosrani’s visceral prose and cinematic imagery occupy a dramatic canvas, the storyline is derivative in places of novels showcasing elemental magic such as Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Verse, A.F Steadman’s Skandar series and Bayron’s Cinderella’s Dead where a fierce woman challenges patriarchal constructs and fights for her mate.

Some of its traits are also reminiscent of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood of Bone, based on the Orisha of Nigerian mythology, where the non-magical sibling protects the one with the power, maji are treated as second class citizens, the monarchy is at fault and the land suffers from tyranny.

The romantasy at its heart is intense and explicit with Amara’s character not emerging fully formed. Secondary characters could also be more well developed. Those quibbles aside, it is a brave novel which is a heady mix of influences celebrating multi-cultural cuisine, the traditional garba dance of Gujarat, feminism, the balance between life and death and the supernatural world of the daayan defined as both witch and demon, but ultimately ‘women who have been wronged or died an untimely death.’ It will appeal to fans of YA featuring powerful females fighting magical battles to stop the triumph of evil.