By Rose Benjamin
NOTE: This post contains major spoilers from Serafina and the Black Cloak and the three other books in that series by Robert Beatty.
The Serafina series by Robert Beatty takes place near Asheville, North Carolina in 1899. It tells the story of Serafina, a young girl with unknown parents who lives, secretly, in the basement of the Biltmore Estate mansion. The appearance of a man in a black cloak that regularly swallows people led Serafina to save the estate's children from something sinister and discover her own true identity in the process. In the second and third books, Serafina, along with a growing number of allies, battles similar enemies and weapons.
Each main character has a very different personality, so I thought it would be interesting to analyze some of them based on their actions throughout the series.
Serafina
Serafina is, of course, the main character in the series. At the beginning, she wonders what has become of her mother. Her father-- her foster father, truly-- is never willing to talk about where Serafina came from. Serafina is an incredibly curious person; she does not give up trying to find out about her mother until she eventually persuades her father to tell her. When he does, Serafina is rather disturbed: her father had found her in the forest right after a creature (they would later find out that the creature was a mountain lion) had given birth to four human-like babies. Serafina, upon finding out the story of her birth, questions whether her father is truly on her side, showing that she is quick to be distrustful. Her suspicious quality is even more pronounced later in the series; she suspects multiple innocent people of being the man in the Black Cloak and is wary of new people who come.
Serafina is also incredibly daring and brave. In the second book in the series, Serafina and the Twisted Staff, she encounters a dense area of pine trees where the ground is covered in sap. In some areas in the Western United States, forests of pine trees are common. However, in this area of North Carolina, it is somewhat unusual to find such a dense area of pine trees (when men try to enter the area on horseback, the pines were so dense that the horses could not fit between them, which gives the reader an idea of how close together they are). The area is incredibly creepy and dangerous, with cages containing trapped animals and a bearded man with a staff. However, when two dogs belonging to Biltmore Estate's master and young master go missing and Serafina suspects the bearded man has brought them there, Serafina is fully willing to venture to the area to rescue them.
Braeden Vanderbilt
Braeden Vanderbilt is the "young master" of Biltmore, and the master's nephew. When he was only ten years old, his house burned in a mysterious fire. His parents and siblings were all killed in the fire, and he and his dog escaped with nothing to keep except his two horses. After he went to live at Biltmore, he never made any true human friends. Serafina, two years after he moved there, became his friend, but Serafina, as the reader finds out at the end of the second book in the series, is not completely human. Braeden is extremely loyal to all of his friends and is more trusting of new people than Serafina. When Rowena, the daughter of Biltmore's greatest enemy, arrives at the estate, Braeden is willing to entertain the stranger, who is part owl. He also trusts the true wearer of the Black Cloak before he finds out what happened.
Waysa
Waysa is a Cherokee catamount (catamounts are the shifters that are part lion). He is brave and will do anything for the people he loves. He has principles that he follows all the time, and is one of the last living catamounts who still regularly use the phrase "stay bold," the mantra of the catamounts ever since Serafina's (biological) father said it whenever someone lost motivation. In the third book in the series, Serafina and the Splintered Heart, the planned attack on Biltmore's enemy failed, and the group had to recognize that it was nearly impossible to kill the enemy. Waysa, however, was fully willing to attack again, even if the odds were severely against them. He consistently follows his principle that he should avenge those he loved or die trying.
Rowena
Rowena is, without a doubt, the strongest of the main characters. As previously mentioned, she is the daughter of Uriah, the enemy of Biltmore and everything else around. She is first introduced in the second book as "Lady Rowena," a British girl who was waiting for her father to come for her. Serafina, unlike Braeden, is immediately suspicious of her, but later she begins to accept her more. That decision was unfortunate; Rowena and Uriah then tried to kill Serafina and capture Braeden. However, in the third book, Rowena changes. At the beginning of the book she is neutral, just trying to survive, but later Serafina convinces her that if she does not join Serafina, Braeden, and Waysa in fighting Uriah she would have no chance of survival. She then joins them and fights against her father until the end.
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