Author: Kiersten White
Release date: 2024
Contains spoilers
The Blurb: In this epic and seductive gothic fantasy, a vampire escapes the thrall of Dracula and embarks on her own search for self-discovery and true love, from the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide.
Her name was written in the pages of someone else's story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula's first victims.
But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire, and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula's clutches - and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.
Her undead life takes an unexpected turn when, in twenty-first-century London, she meets another woman who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.
Lucy has long believed she would never love again. But she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris, while Iris is mesmerised by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by forces from without. Iris's mother won't let go of her without a fight, and Lucy's past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl again.
Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?
Dracula changed her. Love will transform her.
The review: Based on Dracula, I need, in the first instance, to address the obvious error in the text. One of the main (modern) characters is Iris Goldaming part of the Goldaming dynasty, founded in the US when Arthur emigrated and took his hereditary name as his familial name – so, not Godalming then? Friend of the blog Clark has read the volume and mentioned this to me, he also communicated with the author who admits it was a missed thing. This has not affected the score.
Because, beyond that faux pas, the book showed an insight into Stoker’s novel and the story fit nicely with Stoker. The volume does, however, deliberately change things. Lucy is a closeted lesbian and unrequitedly in love with Mina, her engagement to Arthur is due to it being expected (she shows, in her real journal, little care for any of the suitors) and she kept two journals – the one that might be found (and we are familiar with from the novel) and a real, personal and hidden one. I have to say the method of her survival from the ministrations of the crew of light was really inventive.
The other main character is the aforementioned Iris. Her controlling mother recently died and she has run away to London to escape the family business – a predatory MLM with cult like practices. Indeed, as well as vampires we get the business as a vampire, capitalism out of control. In London, trying to free cash to vanish, she meets Elle – a museum worker and they start to fall for each other. This is very much a queer re-telling and expansion of the tale.
There was a really interesting take on vampires and flowing water, with a suggestion that as they age, they become denser and they have, therefore, a tendency to sink. The vampires are often not as rounded as Lucy as they lose themselves but Lucy was given her name back after she turned (literally told her name) and this allowed her to mentally reach back to her mortal life and self, but the vampires are also frozen in development, prisoners of their mortal desires/belief at the time of death. As we see Lucy grow beyond this we see a vampiric coming of age. Holy items are not so much a thing – it is the belief behind them that is important – and there is a really clever thing done with this and self-belief. There is also a wonderful deconstruction of the character Dracula that I don't want to spoil.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. I thought it a really clever exploration of themes through a modern lens – despite the faux pas with a primary name. 8 out of 10. Thanks to David who got me the book for Christmas.
In Hardback @ Amazon US
In Hardback @ Amazon UK
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