Reluctant Immortals - Gwendolyn Kiste

Horror

Rating: 8.5/10

If you are going to reimagine the stories of two famous literary characters, you might as well do it with style!

This clever novel takes place in the late ‘60’s California and follows Lucy, a victim from Bram Stokers Dracula and Bertha, the first wife of Edward Rochester from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.  What better place than this glittery era haunted by the ghosts of dead girls and dead dreams for these long-forgotten women to emerge and lay claim to their own stories.

The book opens with Lucy standing in the shadow of the Hollywood sign with a shovel in one hand and an urn of Dracula’s ashes in the other. Not all the ashes, just some.  And they seem to be whispering. Are you not intrigued?

Lucy and Bee have been on the run for lifetimes, trying to vanquish these monstrous men. Turns out it’s not so easy. They just won’t stay dead. And these women are tired of being tormented and haunted and resolve to salvage what’s left of their lives.

I loved this tale of women who have been deleted from their own story, relegated to a footnote, staging a mutiny against the men that have repeatedly subjugated them. The author imbues them with snark, having them pepper in hilarious one-liners throughout the text that will have you laughing out loud. And maybe, just maybe, she gives them their redemption.

Footnote: The author alludes to other works of literature and pop culture of the times that bibliophiles will relish.

Book Pairing(s): Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Only A Monster by Vanessa Len, Vampyres Of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau