Synopsis:
1884. When Mafalda journeys to Budapest to care for her grieving aunt, her secret love, Lucy, hurries from London to comfort her, with chaperone and lady’s maid in tow.
But lady’s maid Alice, blessed and cursed with the Sight, is tormented by terrifying visions. When chaperone Eliza falls prey to a disturbing wasting illness, the women hope to seek the healing waters of Transylvania. At a nobleman’s invitation, they set out for Castle Dracula.
In the depths of the forest, miles from civilization, their host reveals his true intentions; a monstrous ambition which will tear the women apart.
And not all of them will survive.
Review:
A delightful, lush Dracula prequel told through letters and diary entries.
We have diary entries and letters from Lucy North in 1884 as well as letters from her accompanying servant who has visions.
In the present timeline, we have Sir John Seward’s personal diary from 1903 in Littlemore Hospital, Oxfordshire. Yes, the Dr. Seward from the original Dracula. This is him practising medicine after the defeat of Dracula, tending to a new patient with a strange case.
Lucy has a sapphic friends-to-lovers thread that is devastating. Not only was homosexuality not recognised during this time period, they were also unknowingly facing evil.
You start off unsure how everything will connect. Just a bunch of characters writing down their thoughts with a few editor’s notes within the text which only adds more mystery.
If you are more familiar with Dracula, I think this will come together more quickly for you.
This has great reflections on independence, reliance, gender roles and societal conformity.
‘They have no idea how to deal with any emotion that is not anger, so they treat a sensibility like a deep universal truth rather the nonsense it is. A man having an emotion is the most important occurrence in the history of the world, and everyone else be damned!’
This was reminiscent to Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson and it is clear Cross is aware of the many different vampire retellings alongside the original texts. This is both classical and unique. Exactly what you want from a retelling.
A great debut even if I did sometimes struggle with the formatting of how the plot was relayed.
Leave a Reply