S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood - Review

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A rapturous Gothic horror romance of the brides of Dracula.

Constanta is saved from the brink of death on the battlefield by a mysterious stranger, thus beginning their romance of blood and lust.

But Constanta soon learns her beloved’s darkness is far beyond her imagining, before he takes another bride with whom she must share him.

As their family of the undead expands to include a third bride, Constanta must confront the truth of their master’s nature and pursue the only avenue of escape that can truly set them free.

'A Dowry of Blood' is the debut novel by S.T. Gibson, a tale of gothic horror and dark romance, reimagining the Dracula legend from the perspective of one of his brides, Constanta. Told in the form of a letter to her murdered husband, Constanta looks back over centuries of their life together, an immersive and seductive history drenched in blood. So deeply familiar are we with the image of the three vampire brides who hunt Jonathan Harker in the dead of night at Castle Dracula; here they are given a voice, a history, and an identity. Beautifully written and instantly immersive, Gibson’s delicious, poetic prose sweeps us away with a narrative of vampirism, seduction, sadomasochistic yearning, polygamy and survival.

Constanta’s recounting of the early decades of her undead life as the vampire’s bride are equally entrancing and discomforting, a torrid tale of psychological abuse and coercive control, rich with desire and decadence; haunting, intense and emotive. She introduces us to the brides who succeed her – Magdalena and Alexi – the envy and discomfort this initially inspires and the total disregard on her husband’s part for how she may feel about sharing him emotionally, consent manipulated from her rather than sought, and the life they lead under the dominion of their master as a polyamorous family.

Dracula's presence dominates over the narrative – his power, his control over his brides, his capacity for evil; but also his charm, his beauty, his intellect, his allure enduring through the centuries, as much in reality as in fiction. Yet, through her narrative, Constanta strips his identity from him, as he has done to her and her fellow brides, so much so there are only minor direct references that would allow us to identify him. Her eternal struggle is to not see this twisted and obsessive devotion as anything but love, despite the fear he instils in them all, each experiencing something akin to Stockholm Syndrome in their unflinching belief that he truly loves them.

It should be noted that the novel diverts from the canon of Stoker's novel, for the most part in subtle ways, but significantly in the timeline (the family are in Berlin at the time the Count was in Transylvania and London) and in disregarding the conclusion of 'Dracula'. It would have been exciting to explore the alternative history of those events from the perspective of the brides, while ‘Dracula’ purists may prefer to take advantage of Dracula’s reduced identity. Yet the novel is so well-written, this doesn’t detract from its excellence.

Evocative and provocative, ‘A Dowry of Blood’ is one of those books that sucks you into its embrace and sinks in its teeth; horrific and romantic in equal measure, harking back to Gothic classics, with a sleek, modern edge – dark, sensual, disturbing, and psychologically and emotionally stark. I adored it from beginning to end.



View all my reviews
Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram
Follow me on Threads
Follow me on Twitter