Pitched as the untold story of the brides of Dracula and filled to the brim with ambience and gothic vibes, The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave explores the lives of twins Lil and Kizzy before they become immortal. The author explores two women who were forced into the background in Bram Stocker’s Dracula, and creates a new space for them to exist in, one where they are the focus of the story.
Twins Lil and Kizzy are about to find out their fates when, on the eve of their divining, they are captured and enslaved by the evil Boyar Valcar. Orphaned and removed from their Traveller community, the twins are forced into work in the castle kitchens. It’s here where another slave girl, Mira, catches Lil’s attention. But soon, the terrifying reality of the Dragon will be enforced upon Lil and Kizzy, and mythology and story will take shape in a terrifying creature who collects girls and gifts. Soon, the girls will learn their fate.
So, what makes this novel tick? Most obviously, there’s the relationship between twin sisters Lil and Kizzy. It’s fair to say that this relationship is the most developed in the novel, and assists in moving the storyline along. Whereas their individual relationships with others, and their relationships with their repressers feel, at times, underworked and hasty, the bond between the two sisters has been well crafted from the start.
This ironclad bond between the sisters also ties in themes of women unity and sisterhood, creating a positive atmosphere in the novel where women are able to support each other in order to work through hardships. Further, by portraying them as twins, Millwood Hargrave accentuates their differences in personality and power by directly comparing them throughout the novel. This assists in the characterisation of Lil, who at first appears meek and submissive before evolving into someone more self-assured, making her character arc one of the most satisfying elements in The Deathless Girls.
The strong sense of setting and Traveller culture also help to refresh Stoker’s older tale. While this book does include vampires, it doesn’t read like a ‘typical’ vampire book. There is a strong emphasis placed on nature and one’s relationship with the land. Later on, this strong sense of place and culture assists in juxtaposing the nature of humans to that of the vampire, and how unnatural the latter is. This well fleshed out setting makes the story feel more authentic and creates guidelines in which to add gothic and magical elements to the tale.
The major drawback to this novel, however, is the misleading title and blurb. If you go into this novel expecting an action-packed tale involving multiple scenes with vampires throughout, you’re going to be disappointed. Rather, The Deathless Girls is a novel that slowly builds and inches towards an exciting but quick finale. The focus is more on the relationship between the two sisters, and what they will do for each other, rather than Stoker’s vampire in the original tale. Briefly put, The Deathless Girls fills in the gap of who two of Dracula’s brides were before they became just that.
So, if you’re after a novel that explores sisterhood, includes a same sex relationship, and depicts a Traveller like culture dripping with gothic elements, The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave could be the book for you. Just be prepared for more of a prequel type setting than a continuation of the original tale.
The Deathless Girls is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
They say the thirst of blood is like a madness – they must sate it. Even with their own kin.
On the eve of her divining, the day she’ll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.
Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn’t understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts.
They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate…
