Book review: Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste

 (Note: This book is based on an advance reader's copy provided by the author)


Gwendolyn Kiste’s work has been characterized by its focus on women characters and women’s rage in a world that would seek to constrain them; by depictions of strong female friendships; by audacious and sometimes surreal premises; and by absolutely gorgeous prose, strong emotion, and narrators with intimate voices that pull you in and grip you until the end. Her newest novel, Reluctant Immortals, fulfils every expectation set up by her previous work, and then some.

 

This is the story of two often disregarded characters from classic literature: Lucy Westnera (from Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and Bertha Mason, the so-called “mad woman” in the attic imprisoned by Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. In Kiste’s re-imagining, Lucy survives Dracula’s bite and becomes immortal herself.* Bertha (called “Bee” in this book) survives the fire she set and also becomes immortal. Now they’re living together in a derelict old house in Los Angeles. It’s 1967, the Summer of Love. Lucy managed to kill Dracula years ago and, more importantly, keep his ashes in separate urns so that his remains can’t combine and resurrect. For 70 years, she’s been guarding these urns, safeguarding the world from Dracula. But then one of the urn breaks, and now everything is about to change. . .

 

It’s an absolutely audacious premise, but I promise that if you go with it, you’ll in for a hell of a ride. The era of a bygone Los Angeles, of drive-in movies and a hippie summer in Haight-Ashbury, are beautifully evoked. Characters from Lucy’s and Bertha/Bee’s past both arrive. I won’t go into too much detail, because the plot twists and turns are way too much fun to spoil, but I will say that the reimagining of one of Bertha’s relationships from her past made me squeal in glee. Lucy and Bertha take a road trip from L.A. to San Francisco to find Dracula, confront other figures from their past, possibly find love (?), and save their world.

 

Dracula and Mr. Rochester are both appropriately charismatic, brooding, and evil villains. The relationship between Dracula and Lucy, in particular, is finely drawn—the unwanted attraction she still feels for him, the obsession he has for her. Lucy’s budding relationship with a young Vietnam War veteran is also compelling and tender.  But it is the relationships between women which are the heart of this book. The unbreakable friendship between Lucy and Bertha, two survivors of trauma, two fellow immortals who never wished for immortality. The old friendship between Lucy and Mina, which is revisited often. The relationship between Bertha and another woman. And the protectiveness which Lucy feels toward the young women she meets in her present, her determination to save them from Dracula and Rochester, to keep any other young women from falling prey to men who see them only as things to be used.

 

There’s darkness in this book, but also light and warmth. Lucy is a compelling heroine; this is a gripping story, and it’s told with verve and flair. A stylish, absorbing, and utterly original take on two Gothic classics, brought into a modern setting of flower power and rock music, but with a continued Gothic sensibility at its heart.

 

*Note: In 2019, Gwendolyn Kiste won a Bram Stoker Award for her gripping short story, “The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra’s Diary)” in Nightmare Magazine. Reluctant Immortals is a continuance of this story. You don’t need to read “The Eight People Who Murdered Me” to enjoy Reluctant Immortals, but you could and you should. 


**You also don’t need to read Bram Stoker’s Dracula to enjoy this book (I haven’t read the Dracula, but I know enough of the story from pop-culture to enjoy this book just fine). I have read Jane Eyre, and I think that greatly enhanced my enjoyment of Reluctant Immortals, but I also suspect that you could enjoy this book without first reading Bronte’s novel.

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