A Long Time Dead

A Long Time Dead
Samara Breger, 2023

Premise: An epic romance. A sumptuous historical love story. A vampire story.

So maybe you loved Fingersmith, (https://bluefairysbookshelf.blogspot.com/2014/03/fingersmith.html), but thought it would be better with overt supernatural elements. 

Or maybe you like the themes of Carmilla and its relations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian_vampire), but want a true romance, with hopefully some kind of happiness for the characters. 

Well, have I got a book written specifically for you! 

A Long Time Dead follows the life and undeath of a Poppy, a cheerful hedonist and (in life) prostitute, who feels drawn to another vampire, the reserved and serious Roisin. They cannot be together for several reasons, most notably because Roisin has sworn to take down her master, the cruel and powerful Cane. 

Poppy is a delight. Her adventures through the societies of the undead, her struggles, her general good humor (except for mourning the fact that she can no longer taste delicious foods) - I loved following her. 

The prose intentionally uses a readable but dense and descriptive style that evokes a classic gothic novel or exciting serial. Be aware that this is not a short book (I kept thinking about David Copperfield and similar books). We are winding through multiple subplots and stories in Poppy's adventure, and I think that is the right choice for this book, even if I occasionally got a little tired reading it. 

It's also maybe a smidge happier than I would expect for a vampire novel? I mean that in the kindest way. I really enjoyed it, but as the book wore on, I sometimes felt as though the stakes were low, even when they weren't supposed to be, because I had trouble believing that anything too terrible would happen. (Note: It's been a while between finishing the read and writing this review, so I honestly don't remember what happened to many characters.)

But overall it was a wonderful world to visit, full of fabulous characters. 

4 Stars - A Very Good Book