A Dowry of Blood by S T Gibson
I would like to thank Nazia from Orbit for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Orbit
Published - Out Now
Price - £14.99 hardback £5.99 Kindle eBook
Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.
Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.
It’s always striking how some of horror’s finest monsters have a strange magnetism on us. When often they just see us as food we see something that we cannot ignore. Is it the allure of seeing an apex predator like a lion or wolf? The temptation to allow our own darker impulses out or even just the desire to be under control. That latter element leads to darker subjects and that is explored in S T Gibson’s A Dowry of Blood which is highly entertaining with a few caveats.
This is a story told by a woman whose own name is lost to history but is now named Constanta. Found on the verge of death in the ruins of her Rumanian village by a strange magnetic nobleman who impressed by her desire to survive offers her a new life - as one of the undead.
We hear through the tale to the man she now only refers to as ‘You’ how Constanta lives through the centuries, explores her power; her ability to hunt and starts to realise as her beloved’s wife she is but one of a chain of people falling under his spell. Constanta is shocked and yet tempted when cunning and beautiful noblewoman Magdalena joins their life as another ‘wife’ and then slowly both realise they cannot step far out of line before they are quickly and sometimes violently pulled back under control. When they are joined by the young rebellious actor Alexi joins this relationship Constanta fears that violence is imminent and instead plans her own bloody path to freedom.
This is a highly enjoyable dark fantasy and Gibson excels at capturing a reader’s attention. The story is cunningly started almost as a confessional and knowing that she has betrayed ‘You’ (and let’s face it that means Dracula) then we want to know how and why. The early scenes of Constanta accepting Dracula’s offer are intoxicating a mix of love, sensual, bloody and violent that pretty much lock you into the story and this is a book you end up devouring very quickly. We get a fast paced trip across Europe and the centuries and with Dracula collecting Magdalena we get a polyamory love story that also raises issues about domestic abuse and control. It’s good to see Gibson understands that while Dracula is a magnetic personality - handsome, wealthy, educated and can be hugely generous he is also a centuries old non-human and expects obedience most of all. It’s micro aggressions to know you’re in the wrong; slowly stopping you from living your own life and a cycle that each new wide or husband enters and starts to lose themselves in. This is a cautionary tale that the Dark Side is glamorous but has dangers that eventually may no longer be worth living for.
I do though have a few issues with the book which is I feel a consequence of that fast, breathless narrative pulling you along. The world building is very slight - we get a few exotic but basic sounding locations for the next part of the story but I rarely felt the passage of time that Constanta constantly talks about.
This has a few issues for characterisation too. Constanta later on is described as a Spinster and then a few chapters later a girl. Magdalena is initially encouraged by Dracula to keep delving into European politics and scheming but the next few pages it ends with us being told he forbids it. Alexi we are told is like a child to Constanta but only a few pages later they make love. Constanta tells us they only hunt the bad people of the works yet constantly eats members of various households who are nameless. This is a rare story which for me could have done with some scenes to slow that pace down and explore the character transitions a bit more subtly. Delve a bit more deeply into what this life of the undead was like and this would have been a standout read feels just more an entertaining one.
A Dowry of Blood is fun and dares to attempt to raise sone questions about our love of monsters. Gibson is a powerful writer who excels at capturing the reader and I will be interested in what they have in store for us next.
