In 1798, Adaeze makes the Middle Passage in chains only to be impregnated and sold into bondage in Newport, Rhode Island. Orv, a demon who prefers to be called a thaumaturge, tells her slavery is a blessing.

Captain Tyce buys Adaeze, whom he renames Daisy Tyce, and adopts her daughter, Hope. As Hope Tyce blossoms into a scandalously beautiful, blue-eyed mixed-race woman, she attracts the attention of Lady Perrin, a British noblewoman who plans to use Hope to advance her own ventures in the sugar and opium trades. Orv is dealing with problems of his own, including a rival demon, Zurn. Just as Lady Perrin prepares to exile Adaeze to a plantation in Barbados in 1815, Zurn imprisons Orv... for 156 years.

In 1971, Robin Doyle learns she is descended from Adaeze. Robin is fighting to win her rightful role in the family business. To her amazement, she accidentally releases Orv from captivity, and he offers to assist her in his own way. With the help of some unorthodox historians, Robin sets out to learn all she can about Adaeze. What she learns will show her how to deal with her own future, and help her confront her persistent little helper and send him straight to hell!

DARKLING – AN AMERICAN HYMN looks at slavery from several points of view, including that of the demons who believe that all commerce is to the good. History unfolds and enfolds three Tyce women. Can the future overcome the sins of the past?