Gibson’s story crafting is powerful and as she exquisitely captures the slow transformation of love into violence - so much so, that she had me shipping Constanta and Dracula for a good portion of the novel until, like Constanta, I realised his danger.Ĭonstanta is a very quiet, almost timid character, but her emotions are intense and all-consuming. How wonderfully portrayed is the lovely romance of the beginning years of Constanta and Dracula’s relationship, to tense hyper-vigilance, to, finally, violence that sparks at any moment. It’s about a woman in love with a monster, but who can’t seem to leave him - except the monster on this end happens to be the infamous Dracula. A Dowry of Blood is such a heartbreaking story of domestic abuse from a paranormal lens. I didn’t realise I needed a novel like this until I was reading it.

And then, Dracula comes home with two new brides, and Constanta now has a small, loving family she must learn how to protect from the one who controls them all. Living and killing by his side, Constanta is drawn further and further under Dracula’s powerful and dangerous spell, until, after centuries, her eyes are opened to the horror he has wrought.

Set through the eyes of his first bride Constanta as she writes a letter to the monster who made her, this domestic horror is an evocative tale of romance and abuse, of love and deceit, and of finding yourself even during the darkest moments.Īs she lies dying after her home and family have been attacked, Constanta is saved by a beautiful stranger who leads her from a life as a medieval peasant into an aristocratic bride for an ancient immortal. A Dowry of Blood is a stunning and visceral novel loosely inspired by Dracula as it follows the vampire’s brides through the centuries they live, kill and fear by his side.

A dowry of blood book buy