An Acquaintance with Darkness

by Ann Rinaldi

When her mother dies and her best friend's family is implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln, fourteen-year-old Emily Pigbush must go live with an uncle she suspects of being involved in stealing bodies for medical research.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction, Civil War, Middle Grade, Young Adult Historical Fiction

372 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ann Rinaldi (b. August 27, 1934, in New York City) is a young adult fiction author. She is best known for her historical fiction, including In My Father's House, The Last Silk Dress, An Acquaintance with Darkness, A Break with Charity, and Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons. She has written a total of forty novels, eight of which were listed as notable by the ALA. In 2000, Wolf by the Ears was listed as one the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last one hundred years. She is the most prolific writer for the Great Episode series, a series of historical fiction novels set during the American Colonial era. She also writes for the Dear America series.

Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. She continued the column, called The Trentonian, through much of her writing career. Her first published novel, Term Paper, was written in 1979. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called "terrible." She became a grandmother in 1991.

Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. She says that she writes young adult books "because I like to write them."

Reviews

[Cydnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is considered YA fiction, but I wonder if any young adults would get the same things out of this novel as I did. I loved the intertwining of story with the reality of the history that was going on. Ann Rinaldi has created a likable 14 year old girl- Emily Pigbush- who although is often mature for her age, she still occasionally slips back into a typical teen mentality. After the death of her mother, she is left an orphan. Pres.Lincoln is assasination soon afterward and Emily is torn between her friendship with the Suratt family [historical- the mother, Mary was actually hanged for her supposed part in the assasination] and her Uncle Valentine, a doctor who is often gone at night under suspicious circumstances.

I loved the fact that I really didn't find out the truth about the uncle until almost the end, but Rinaldi kept me reading and I never wanted to say, "Oh, come on...get on with the story!"

I would recommend this for any age. I found nothing offensive and all of it enjoyable!

[jacky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Rinaldi book. I thought it was going to be directly about Lincoln's assassination, but it wasn't. Instead, it more discussed the chaos caused by his assassination and some information on what medicine was like at that time. The main character was a typical protagonist for Rinaldi, much like A Break with Charity, but the story was less predictable and more dark, and thus more fun.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I was bored one day and I had nothing to read and I called up my friend Danielle complaining. She came into school the next day with Gilda Joyce: Pyscic Investingator. I took one look at the book and thought that I would hate it. Danielle just told me to give it a break and that she took it easy on me and didn't give me her Body Snatching Book. And that's how the joke about this book started. I called her up a couple of weeks later looking to borrow the book Shiver, but she told me that I had to read this book and give her a summary and review, then and only then would I get Shiver. She would only tell me that it was about Body Snatching and wouldn't elaborated any further. That and only that is the reason why I didn't go online looking for a summary of the book to memorize and recite to her (and partially because she was monitoring my every move). But I just needed to know what this body snatching was. I had no clue, all I could think of was the Host and how the aliens took away the human's bodies from them, but I knew that it was historical fiction and that would never happen in historical fiction.

So I found myself reading the book. And as I read more and more, I found myself becoming absorbed. Ann Rinaldi creates two plots in this book. On one hand, The Civil War has just ended and the President has just been shot. And on the other hand, stealing bodies from graves for medical research is at an all time high. Emily Pigbush is caught in the middle of both. Her Best friend's mother and brother have been accussed of harboring and aiding John Wilkes Booth and her Uncle who she must live with, is thought by Emily to be stealing bodies from their graves for medical research. These two plots tie together nicely and I absolutly loved the captivating tale.

There Danielle, I said it, I LOVED THE BOOK! Danielle was right and Julia (Juliet) was wrong! Are you happy now? Also, this is one of those books where I find myself staying up at night thinking about what Ann Rinaldi commented about in her Author's Note. "What happened to Emily Pigbush?" Of course she was a fictional character, but the author leaves so much room for Emily to have done so much more after the book was finished. In my fantasies, Emily decides to stay with her Uncle Valentine and aids him with his fights towards more medical research. She becomes the best of friends with Marietta, and becomes a female Doctor. When Johnny comes back to America for a trial, she sits in and watches. They never speak and she realizes that Johnny is no longer the Johnny that shenew in Maryland. She decides as opposed to her former thoughts that she is not over with men and finds that she is still in love with Robert and they end up doing everything together. There are so many more possiblities that I have thought up for Emily but I can not possibly write them all!

All in all, this was a great book and I am so happy that Danielle forced me to read it!

[Susan Chapek]

I read many of Rinaldi's YA historicals back in the 1990'a, but only got hold of this one recently. It's become my favorite. It's intricate, suspenseful, tragic, complex.

I expect that Ann Rinaldi's novels have gone out of style. Her main characters are sometimes privileged and sometimes enslaved, her stories involve American social and political controversies--elements that tend to have a literary use-by date. I'm not going to make excuses for the era Rinaldi was writing in or the publishers and libraries she was writing for. I simply wonder, how does this particular title hold up today?

Set during the weeks surrounding Lincoln's assassination, the story is told from the POV of a white adolescent woman, but her coming of age is powerfully affected by (among other characters) three Black women (one of them a real historical figure, Elizabeth Keckley).

[Jocelyn M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the read and it held my attention, but I don't like some of the messages that were portrayed. So for now, between 3 and 3.5 stars for me. I feel conflicted. Great from a historical perspective, though.

[Rebecca Radnor · Rating 5 out of 5]

14 yr old Emily's close friends the Suratt's are under suspicion in Lincoln's murder, and her uncle for body snatching for medical research. Emily's best friend is Annie Surratt, the daughter of Mary Suratt who was hung for her part in the conspiracy to murder Lincoln (yes it's a spoiler but its history). The book is dark with intrigue and gross medical stuff, so students should love it. While the assassination, and later arrest of Mary Suratte is the major historical event around which the book is written, it is more about the state of medical science in the US at the end of the war and how it was impacted by the war, than about Lincoln.

For instance, Rinaldi's author's note starts out focused on the history of medical dissections in the united states, and then goes on to describe its history in Europe. She then describes the history of hospitals, medical schools and medicine in the US. She doesn't turn towards the conspiracy to kill Lincoln till later. She includes a darkly humorous description of extents that medical students would go to in order to procure their own bodies to dissect.

It also includes a description of which characters are fictional, and which real... the two little people/grave robbers are apparently real, which I thought they must be as I was reading the book, because that's the kind of detail that has to be true to be believed -- only they were not in DC nor did they live during that time period. Rinaldi makes Emily's uncle one of the three doctors who attended to Lincoln after he was shot, making him the third doctor whose identity has been lost to history. As her notes show, Rinaldi in this book has done a fine job weaving historical truth and fiction together. Another example is that Emily often talks about the day that Johnny Surratt took her to Fords Theater to sit in the President's Box, and in fact he did take two young ladies to that theater and box ... ect.

She even discusses the historical debates about Annie, and other aspects of the true parts of the book and which sources she chose to rely on and why. And of course, Rinaldi being Rinaldi, she includes a full bibliography. The end of the book also include a list of teachers questions to pose to readers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sur...

Also consider the movie The Conspirator, also about Mary Surratt
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0968264/


I am not a huge fan of Rinaldi's work. On one hand, as a history teacher, you got to love her for her attention to historical accuracy. I put this in part to her being 1) someone who does historical reenactments for fun -- and those guys are detail nutty, and 2) a journalist. However, she tends to not be the best writer. Her style is stilted and awkward. Having read a bunch of her books, however, I think this one is up there with some of her best... its so good that at times I forgot I was reading Rinaldi, I just wanted to know what was going to happen on the next page.

[VJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I need a read that is immediately engaging, informative, and based in reality, Ann Rinaldi has never disappointed.

Orphaned Emily comes to live with her Uncle Valentine in the aftermath of the assassination of President Lincoln. This telling of the tale will teach you about the folks who were found to have conspired to kill Lincoln. You will also learn about the early development of the study and practice of medicine in the 1800s following the Civil War, involving body snatching. Most fascinating.

Rinaldi creates characters that will have you thinking about them long after you close the covers of the book. Addie will make you think.

Emily grows up and you will revel in her maturing.

On to my next Rinaldi!

[Hedy Harper (Erin Hanton) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Rinaldi was one of my favorite authors as a kid, and rereading this book reminded me why. She really is fantastic at writing YA historical fiction. I haven’t read other peoples reviews of this book, so I’m not sure what they take off stars for, but I thought this book was excellent. Is it brilliant? No, but it’s accessible and challenging for its target age group, well researched (love a YA historical novel with a strong bibliography!), the events are adjacent to well known historical events kids both learn about in school and are curious about, and it has a romantic element that isn’t the entirety of the plot. The characters aren’t perfect, but neither are people.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it a bit slow to get going at the beginning, but then at the end I was so annoyed with the adults that I didn't really care that the plot had picked up. Emily's mother dies and she's left to decide what to do with herself in Washington D.C., just after the war ends. Her uncle offers to take her in, but she knows that her mother had always distrusted him but didn't know why.

The day of her mother's funeral, her uncle's housekeeper (who has been helping Emily out while her mother was dying) gives her a drink spiked with drugs to make her nearly incoherent. Then the next day, Maude clears out Emily's house of all the food and beverages that her neighbors had dropped off because she wants to make Emily desperate enough to accept her uncle's help. Meanwhile, her uncle has staged an attempted grave robbing of Emily's mother's grave when he knows she will be visiting so he can look like a hero.

Once Emily is forced to live with him, it is obvious that everyone is keeping secrets from her. There is a woman living upstairs who claims she is a prisoner, a shed Emily is forbidden from going into (but she knows people move things in and out of in the night), secret comings and goings at all hours. When Emily finally finds out what is going on, her uncle and her beau Robert (Uncle Valentine's medical student) tell her she is a spoiled child for not trusting them implicitly. She tells them that what bothered her was the secrecy and they say that it shouldn't matter because what they were doing was important and she was acting like a brat.

Maybe she was a little bit, at times, but mostly I saw a young girl without any protection in the world who had been forced into the care of a family member she barely knew and had been given no reason to trust. Everything about her introduction into life with him had been manipulative and deceitful and yet she's the immature one because she wanted to get away? I could get over it with Uncle Valentine a little more because he and Emily talk things out, but frankly I didn't want her to forgive Robert. I know that Emily caused problems for them too, but they were literally all caused by the fact that she had been kept in the dark about what was happening and trusted that what she had been told was true. Then when it turns out it wasn't, he calls her a brat.

The worst part of it was that at the end, Emily tells Robert that she thinks she was in the wrong because now she knows what true evil is after the assassination of Lincoln and the execution of those involved. I think Rinaldi does a decent job walking the line about the moral versus the practical necessity of body snatching for doctors, but I think the real issue for Emily was being made to feel unsafe in her home, and then being told that she was wrong for feeling so.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to countrylife for recently recommending this very interesting book.

I've read a number of Ann Rinaldi's books, some are good, others fall flat. This one is worth the time and effort spent reading.

Using the backdrop of Washington, DC at the turbulent time of the end of the Civil war, Rinaldi takes us through the streets of a city in turmoil as the country is reeling with the aftermath of a nation torn apart.

Slaves who were freed now have no where to go. Expecting President "Linkum" to find homes for them, they sadly seek shelter and food to no avail.

Widows with no source of income are pressed to take in boarders. Soldiers returning home to the North after the war suffer from disease, loss of limbs and the stress of combat fatigue.

We learn of life in Washington, DC 1865 from the point of view of fourteen year old Emily Pigbush who lost her father in the war and her mother to "the wasting disease".

Upon her death bed her mother forbid Emily to live with her Uncle Valentine, a prominent physician and teacher. Instead, Emily was slated to live at the home of her friend Annie Surrat, daughter of Mary Surrat.

Weaving a cast of characters including John Wilkes Booth, Dr. Mudd, General Custer and the Surrats, Rinaldi provides accurate historical detail regarding the assignation of President Lincoln and the effects of a city and nation in tremendous grief.

John Wilkes Booth was known to visit the home of Mary Surrat and thus she was implicated with seven others.

History shows that on the afternoon of Lincoln's assignation, Booth went to Mary Surratt's boarding house in Washington, D.C. It was discovered that guns and ammunition were stored there.

Of the eight alleged conspirators, she was the only woman. She was found guilty and hanged. She has the historial notoriety of being the first woman executed by the United States government.

Mary Surrat's boarding house:

Mary Surrat:


While the title and cover of the book leads the reader to believe this is a ghost story, in fact, the sub plot of the book is an excellent depiction of Ann's Uncle, who for the sake of learning new medical techniques in order to help wounded and those afflicted with disease, works with a few others to rob graves or attain bodies. These are the times before legal autopsies and the moral/ethical procurement of bodies is balanced by the need for knowledge.

Recommended.

[Ariadne Cares · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this YA book as an adult. Emily, the heroine of the story, has a compelling voice, and is both brave and compassionate. She has fascinating and unique friends and relatives, and DC in the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination is a mesmerizing place. I used to live outside of DC and wrote a research paper on the conspirators, so I was pretty familiar with the subject matter already. I was afraid that Rinaldi would spit out a lot of the facts I already knew, but she didn't. This felt much more like a suspenseful news story than a historical novel. The upheaval of a city in mourning and chaos, the horror and tragedy of war, the outrage against the idea of hanging a woman, the deaths of parents and the responses of children who have to be far too brave in the wake of their parents' deaths...this is the genius of Rinaldi's take on this harrowing time in US history. Coupled with Rinaldi's signature and profound life insights, this story is gold.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I re-read this every so often because I enjoy the book so much. I love that Rinaldi uses the backdrop of the end of the Civil War and the death of Lincoln to set things up for the story. I found the inclusion of the Surratts and specifically the case of Mary Surratt being involved in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln so sad and so interesting. Such a good book. I love the way this author weaves together real people and events with her characters.

[skein · Rating 3 out of 5]

always, her titles do what the books can't do, or refuse.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly this was a book report book.usually don't mind them as they let me pick out my own book.but this book confused me from about page one.Honestly I couldn't be bothered to finish this book

[Avery Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Rinaldi's An Acquaintance with Darkness is set in Washington DC in April 1865 and centers around the time the Civil War ended and President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. After her father's death, 14-year old Emily has been the sole caretaker of her mother who is dying of 'Wasting Disease.' When her mother dies, Emily goes to live with her Uncle Valentine and becomes stuck between the assassination plot of Lincoln and rumors of body snatching.
I enjoyed reading this book, however, the plot was very predictable. It didn't have any twists or surprises that make books super interesting. But, this is a historical novel, so Rinaldi had a small window she could work with. Ane with that small window, she created an amazing story. She used descriptive words that put the image and feelings of characters in your brain. For example, at one part, Emily sees two burnt bodies on the table and is horrified. Rinaldi perfectly described the dead bodes and Emily's reaction that I felt like I was there in the book. Ann Rinaldi also used little stories from the Brother's Grimm. Emily's daddy told her the stories and when she remembers the little parts, she uses them as advice and warnings. I liked how Rinaldi was able to tie stories in that we all knew into her story and it made Emily seem more real.
One thing that I liked about this book was that I learned new things from it about the Civil War period that I didn't know. One of these things was a big issue back in the 1800s - body snatching. Rinaldi went into this subject and showed the pros and cons as Emily realized what was going on with her Uncle's medical studies. At first, Emily only saw the bad. She thought that they were stealing bodies from graves to do science experiments on them. As she earned more, Emily realized that they were acquiring bodies before they were buried so they could further their research and be able to save lives in the future. I never knew this was even a thing, but I'm glad they did it because thanks to them we have a lot of medical knowledge today.
I also loved how Rinaldi made her characters relatable. At one moment in the book, Emily felt like she had no one and that everyone had lied and betrayed her. I think that a lot of people in this world can relate to that and it makes her characters seem real a not superficial. even when Emily was broken-hearted and wanted to run away, her friend Annie was there for her and helped stop her from running away. Again, I can relate to this because even when I feel like I'm alone I know that I have people out there who care about me.
I would recommend this book to anyone, especially people who love Historical Fiction, medical studies, or dark plots with morbid events. An Acquaintance with Darkness is definitely a must-read.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Acquaintance with Darkness was a very interesting book. My sister recommended it to me as a historical fiction. This book is about the months after the end of the Civil War and the Lincoln assassination. I had never considered what the country would have been like in those specific months so this sort of broadened my imagination and understanding about that certain period of history. I enjoyed the way this book was written. It was written in a way that was interesting and held my attention. I am not always a fan of first person, but the way this was written was very appealing. One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the development of the main character, Emily. It was fun to go along with her in the story and feel the feelings she was feeling too. She reminded me of myself in several instances and I couldn’t help but want to make everything perfect for her. I didn’t have anything I specifically remember not liking about the way it was written or the general feel. I just didn’t like the thought that cadavers were so hard to come by when all the doctors were wanting to do was help others with their discoveries. My brothers-in-law had to work with cadavers when they were in college and so this really helped me appreciate what doctors do today.

[Sandy Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's April 1865 in Washington D.C. Emily Bransby Pigbush is keeping watch over her dying mother. Emily has been invited to live with their neighbor, the Surrats, when her mother dies - even though she has an uncle, Dr. Valentine Bransby, living in D.C., and an aunt who lives in the now ruined Richmond. Shortly after the funeral, the night before Emily is to move in with Annie Surrat and her mother, sleep is disturbed by loud noises and shouts in the street. Then by Valentine banging on her door. Lincoln had been shot. Valentine had attended him and rushed to take Emily to his home before pandemonium broke out. It turns out, Johnny Surrat and Dr. Mudd (a friend of Valentine's) are suspected as coconspirators with Booth in the assassination. What follows through the perspective of a 14 year old girl is a look into the people's reaction to the assassination, living conditions in D.C. after the Emancipation Proclamation, the state of medical care, body snatching and the issue of cadaver research, as well as public hanging. With so much confusion surrounding her personally and nationally, Emily is comforted by her father's wisdom - shared in fairy tales and fables - as she struggles with doubt, suspicion, bullying in school, and trust.

[Kate Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could give this 4.5 stars. Reading this revived my love for middle school historical fiction and reminded me why I read so much as a kid. It's just better than modern YA, by like, a mile and a half. I was immersed, I was given ~vibes~, I was LOCKED IN.

The way Rinaldi manages to weave real historical figures into a plot that stands on its own, as an aspiring historical fiction writer, blew my mind. Her master doc must have been just as long as the book! I only say 4.5 stars and not 5 because of all the freaking SENTENCE FRAGMENTS my eyes were forced to sponge every other paragraph. Stylistic choices are one thing, and I understand this is is written in 1st person so you could say it's the character's style, but the fragments don't add emphasis and they appear in the dialogue too, which just felt like lazy writing—which makes NO sense because otherwise this book was immaculate. I simply don't understand, Ann.

Also, I would say I started to dislike both Emily and Robert at points, but I always came back around. ;)

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, ok, If i were a teen aged reader, I might have given this 5 stars thinking I had just read a very interesting book with many historical facts learned in doing so. First of all I am not that teen aged reader and I did not think ALL the historical facts were accurate. The first 150 pages were a bit interesting but the last part was of no interest what so ever to me. I feel that I wasted the entire day today reading this silly thing. BUT I would still recomend this to any teen readers not hooked on reading YET.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Grief is hard work. We must work at it, the same as we must work at being happy." -- Mary Todd Lincoln

"Moonlight is a light we have had all day but have not appreciated, and proves how remarkable a lesser light can be when a greater light has departed." -- Henry David Thoreau

Mary Todd Lincoln's brother George R.C. Todd and her half-brothers Alexander Todd, David Todd, and Samuel Todd all fought in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Her half-sister Emilie Helm's husband was a Confederate general killed at Chickamauga.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fascinating story from Ann Rinaldi. It took a little while to draw me in but once it did I hated putting it down. I really enjoyed learning about early medical research against the backdrop of Lincoln’s assassination.
How much research must have gone into each of her books! Dialogue, setting, fashion, even social cues all ring true to time period. Nothing bothers me more than being jarred out of historical fiction by contemporary slang or sensibilities. That’s yet to be the case with Rinaldi. I am really enjoying my read through her extensive backlist.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was something I had to read because we are going to be teaching it this quarter. I was not very excited to read it due to it being a historical fiction novel. I’m not a big history buff.

However, it made the history of the Civil War and the events around Lincoln’s assassination come alive and become more interesting.

It had a few racially offensive comments and remarks. But, overall, it was a good read.

[Fiana]

Ann Rinaldi was my favorite author in elementary and middle school by a long shot. I was obsessed with her template of a female protagonist living through the events I would learn about in history class.

If you’re looking for a decent young adult historical fiction, Rinaldi’s books are a great place to start. Mature readers will likely find the characters and storyline to be shallow and predictable.

[Brydon Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intelligently written, easy to read novel with many interesting characters. The author had good allusions and themes that worked well in the story and didn’t feel forced. She teaches a lot through the character but tells the story like a screen play. I liked how she brings you into the thought patterns and emotions of the 14yr old Emily Pigbush, honest, naive, innocent, conflicted, in a coming of age kind of way.

[Amara F · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fav book I read as a teenager and still one I read today as an adult. I’ve read it so many times, I had to buy a new book for my shelf. If you like historical fiction with a little bit of romance, this is for you. This author is perfect when it comes to historical fiction. This one is a take on the Abraham Lincoln shooting. There are multiple possible love interests. Great for a young reader and adult.

[Miss December · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. I got a lot out of this YA even as an adult. I'm actually amazed it's for YA readers- it feels far more adult than that. The protagonist says and does things that are way more advanced for a 14 year old.

This is an outstanding read and checked all the boxes for my Gothic heart. I ended up going down the rabbit hole for some history, too! Very fascinating things!

[Gail Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book and not just for Young Adults....I thoroughly enjoyed it....thanks Ann for the all accurate history you take the time to put into this book....I'm going to ready more of your books for sure....

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

well it was a very interesting book it took me a while to finish only because of all the things I have been doing over the past few months and I must say if you like creepy-suspense and thriller, this book is for you!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I like how she melded fact and fiction with history and medical history. This is the second book of hers that I read. I have also read the Coffin Quilt, which was quite good as well. I have ordered more of her stories.

[Lynn Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives me a perspective on the shooting of Lincoln. Had facts I didn't know - but I thought the 14 year old was too old acting - not a normal 14 year old in my mind. I know times were different - but she did not strike me as a real person.