The Power of the Shade is a young adult novel by British children's author Jacqueline Wilson. It was originally published in 1987 by Oxford University Press. The nine OUP books by Wilson are relatively little-known, all except one having been out of print for many years.
May is an orphan being raised by her grandparents and great-aunt, the family of her late mother Amy. They idolise Amy and expect May to become just like her. May wants to be a writer, and grows attached to Rob, a new teacher of creative writing at her school. Her new friend, the mysterious Selina, claims she can initiate May as a witch and teach her how to use magic to win Rob's heart. Subsequently, mysterious events lead her to question if she really has "the power of the shade".
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Annie and Win are controlling and emotionally abusive; and use Amy's memory to guilt-trip her. Arthur is kinder, but he doesn't intervene.
- Alliterative Name: May's full name is May Maddox.
- Always Second Best:
- May has been made to feel that she'll never live up to Amy. After becoming friends with the beautiful and popular Selina, May feels second best to her as well.
- In one of May's stories, a peasant family has seven daughters, and all are beautiful except the youngest; who is ugly and bitter. On each daughter's 14th birthday, a handsome prince arrives to take her back to his kingdom ... until the youngest daughter's birthday, when the prince takes one look at her and decides to run off with her mother instead.
- Ambiguously Bi: Selina likes boys, but enjoys looking at paintings of naked women, and repeatedly suggests that she and May perform rituals in the nude.
- Be a Whore to Get Your Man: May resolves to try and win Rob over by having sex with him, although it doesn't work and he turns her down.
- Bears Are Bad News: In one of May's fairytales, a beautiful girl (Amy) is asked to paint a portrait of a foreign princess (Selina.) The portrait is so perfect that the girl is summoned to the royal court; but on the way is devoured by bears, to the joy of her jealous younger sister (May.)
- Bittersweet Ending: Arthur has died, and Annie has seemingly developed dementia, although May doesn't think she really has it. May reflects that she'll probably never know if Win was really her grandmother. Her friendship with Selina has ended, and things are very awkward with Rob. However, she treasures her grandfather's memory and is determined to finish her painting of him. She has become more confident and independent, and writes a new fairytale that reflects her newfound determination.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: It's suggested that Amy's parents and Win objected to her marrying May's father, and felt he was taking her away from them.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- May reads through Rob's papers and finds a notebook she thinks is his diary, describing his passion for her. It's actually a manuscript of a YA romance novel he's writing about a boy in love with a classmate, whom Rob decided should be a redhead like May.
- May also happens to run to Rob's flat just as the fire service is arriving to put out the fire.
- Death by Childbirth: Amy died giving birth to May, although it's suggested that something to do with her mental health (possibly drugs or self-harm) may have contributed.
- Driven to Suicide: What happened to May's father after Amy died.
- Dude Magnet: Selina is pretty and very much in demand with boys.
- Elaborate University High: May's school is one of these and is so fancy that it has a writer in residence each year, something you would normally expect at a university rather than a school.
- Everyone Hates Fruit Cakes: Averted. When May visits Selina just after Christmas, Selina serves wine and a fancy fruit cake. May thinks this is delicious and much better than the chocolate Yule log her family had for Christmas.
- Executive Meddling: Rob uses some of May's fairytales in his published work, although he made a lot of changes that she's not happy with, and feels they're not really her stories any more.
- Fairytale Motifs: Selina is associated with witches, and Amy with princesses. May writes fairytales that reflect what's going on in her life.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo: It's suggested that Win had an affair with Arthur and gave birth to Amy, meaning that Win is May's biological grandmother and Annie her great-aunt. The reader never finds out for sure if this is really the case.
- First Girl Wins: Rob doesn't want a relationship with May partly because she is just a child, but also because he has decided to go back to his estranged wife.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Amy was blonde and is described by her parents and aunt as kind and angelic, although May (and the reader) only really has their word for it.
- Kick the Dog: After May tries to have sex with Rob, believing that he returned her feelings, he turns her down rather harshly and calls her a "pathetic little girl."
- Loving a Shadow: May doesn't seem to accept Rob as he really is, and constructs her own version of him in her head.
- Maiden Aunt: Win is an elderly lady who's ostensibly never been married or had children, although she may have been Amy's biological mother. Even if she was, she never had any other relationships.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Whether May and Selina's witchcraft has any effect is left ambiguous.
- Meaningful Name:
- May's name was chosen because it is an anagram of Amy.
- The name "Selina" is a form of Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon. On multiple occasions, Selina attempts to call on the power of the moon or perform spells by moonlight.
- Most Writers Are Writers: May writes short stories and wants to become a professional writer. Rob is a bestselling novelist.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- May goes through this after her grandfather dies, thinking she is being magically punished because she painted over a portrait of Amy.
- After Rob turns her down, May attempts to put a curse on him by making a biscuit that looks like him and then burning it. The following day, when she sees fire engines in his part of town, she has this reaction and thinks she caused his house to burn down. The Fire Service were actually called out over a gas explosion in a neighbour's apartment. Rob comforts her and tells her there's no such thing as witchcraft.
- Naked People Are Funny: Selina convinces May to run naked around a tree in her garden as part of a love charm. She later tells May she was watching from the window and laughing at her the whole time.
- Older Than They Look:
- May is 14 but looks very young for her age and people often think she's still in primary school.
- May thinks Rob is in his twenties, but he is actually 34 and has a teenage daughter of his own.
- Amy died very young and was only around 20-21; but seemingly did not look much older than May is now.
- One-Gender School: May attends a private school for girls.
- Palette Swap: May is repeatedly described as looking like Amy but with a different hair and eye colour. This is emphasised when May attempts a portrait of Amy, but feels uneasy and turns it into herself by painting over the hair and eyes.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: May and Selina have one after Selina becomes ill with glandular fever. They make up, although at the end of the book, May can no longer tolerate Selina's poor treatment of her and ends their friendship.
- Posthumous Character: Amy died before the story begins, and is only heard about through the people who remember her.
- Raised by Grandparents: May is being raised by her grandparents and great-aunt.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Selina is pale with long black hair and is described as very pretty and popular with boys.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: May gives one to Win when they argue over her not being allowed to sleep over at Selina's.May: It's not my room. It's my mother's. It's got all her things, not mine, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you too!
- Recycled Plot: Several elements of the book are very reminiscent of Midnight, including May's friendship with Selina (similar to Violet's friendship with Jasmine), the heroine having an interest in fairytales, and discovering a major secret about her family.
- Replacement Goldfish: May's grandparents and aunt treat her as a replacement for Amy. She is expected to sleep in Amy's room, use all her old things, and do everything the way Amy would have done it; including following Amy's dream of becoming an artist, even though May would rather be a writer.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Annie seemingly develops dementia almost immediately after Arthur dies, although May doesn't believe she really has it, and thinks Annie is just in denial that he's gone.
- Sensory Overload: May has an extremely sensitive sense of smell, and after her grandfather's death is often bothered by bad smells around the house. Rob suggests that maybe Win and Annie can't smell it because they are elderly; but May also detects smells in Rob's apartment that he doesn't notice.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: May has red hair and green eyes.
- Teacher/Student Romance:
- May falls for Rob, who's teaching literature and writing at her school; although technically he is a writer in residence.
- It's suggested that May's father was previously Amy's art teacher.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Amy's parents and aunt see her as this trope.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Selina repeatedly influences May to cause trouble with her family, slack off school, and pursue a relationship with Rob; who is married (although separated from his wife) and their teacher.
- The Unreveal: We never discover outright whether Win was Amy's birth mother.
- To support it, Mrs Roberts tells May that she and the other neighbours have long suspected Amy was born from Win and Arthur having an affair. Win is much more involved in May's upbringing than you would expect from an aunt. There are at least two occasions where when May says that Win is "just" her aunt, Win gets upset and is seemingly about to tell her something. May also catches Win snuggling with Arthur's cardigan after he dies. At one point, Annie refers to something bad Win supposedly did in the past, but Win hastily cuts her off. When Win describes Amy's last moments, May assumes that she must be lying because a hospital wouldn't allow Amy's aunt in.
- To not support it, Mrs Roberts is obviously trying to cause trouble. It's possible Win was in love with Arthur, that he left her for Annie, or they had an affair but no baby - all of which could explain Win's attachment to Amy, especially if she couldn't have her own children. It's also plausible that a hospital would allow an aunt in as close family, since Win lived with them. Win taking a bigger role in May's upbringing makes sense since Arthur had a serious health condition and Annie had to take care of him. Ultimately, May doesn't quite believe Arthur would have betrayed his wife. While she admits she could be wrong about that, she also isn't sure Annie would have forgiven Win.
- With Friends Like These...: Selina is repeatedly spiteful and dismissive towards May, who ultimately gets sick of it and stops being friends with her.
- Woman Scorned: May attempts to put a curse on Rob after he turns her down, although she quickly regrets it after thinking the curse had actually worked.
