Lori's Reviews > Black Magic: A Tale of the Rise and Fall of the Antichrist

** spoiler alert ** On its surface, Black Magic appears to be your standard Gothic novel with a medieval setting, creepy Catholicism, witches and the occult, thunderstorms, doomed love, and whatnot. There is a surprising twist, however, in that Dirk Renswoude - eventual Antichrist and Satanic Pope - is also Ursula of Rooselaare. From a modern perspective it is easy to read Dirk as a trans man, especially since Bowen continues to use male pronouns after his former identity is revealed. On the other hand, adopting a male guise is the only way for a woman of this era to have a career in academia, politics, and the Church. Dirk's backstory, by everyone's admission, is one of a girl being forced into an unwanted marriage despite her desire to live as a nun. There is really something to be said about an AFAB person who turns to the forces of evil when the Good Guys would deny this person agency and independence. Indeed, for all his crimes, Dirk is not a sociopath: he risks everything for the man he loves and is genuinely broken-hearted when he cannot save his father from execution. His character is ultimately tragic, and there is little of the usual satisfaction one experiences upon the demise of such a powerful villain.

Published in 1909, I imagine Black Magic must have raised some eyebrows. Dirk as a trans man introduces a queer element to his passionate friendship with Thierry, who never stops to question why exactly his BFF is so jealous of Jacobea, a noblewoman Thierry falls in love with. Both Jacobea and Ysabeau, the two main female characters, are portrayed as three-dimensional human beings rather than simply the femme fatale and the untouchable angel. Under Dirk's influence, Jacobea convinces the man she loves to kill his wife yet does not marry him and spends the rest of her life in quiet repentance. Ysabeau is introduced as a cold-blooded schemer and murderess, yet eventually becomes quite sympathetic and even downright heroic, and gets a happy ending despite also living for years in bigamy (albeit unknowingly).

For many readers Black Magic certainly fulfilled its purpose as a thriller utilizing familiar tropes dating back to Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe. But its use of gender is unique and highly thought-provoking. Author Bowen wrote under male pseudonyms and had her first novel, The Viper of Man, rejected by publishers as inappropriate for a young woman to have written, so I do not think this was unintentional.