Today I’m joining the blog tour for The Death And Life Of Lucy Westenra. My review is written with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

What desperate steps will Lucy Westenra take to save her own life?

Hillingham in Hampstead, once the home of the well-to-do Westenra family, now divided into apartments. When teacher Kate Balcombe sets about renovating her flat in the attic, she finds an unsent letter, written 130 years before by Lucy, the nineteen-year-old daughter of the house.

You may know Lucy from Bram Stoker’s Dracula… a pretty, flirtatious girl with three ardent suitors, she is Mina Harker’s best friend. When Lucy falls mysteriously ill and dies, Van Helsing identifies her as a victim of the vampire.

But what if the monsters who hunt Lucy are much closer to home?

As Kate begins to investigate Lucy’s story, she meets James Harker, Mina’s great-great grandson, and together they uncover a long-hidden story of deception and murder.

Review:

I read Dracula many years ago, but it is to my absolute shame that I completely missed the recurring characters! Despite this, I enjoyed The Death And Life Of Lucy Westenra. Rosie Fiore has researched the historical references incredibly thoroughly and this really enhances her writing, which is already very rich. Her storytelling is very engaging and I was completely hooked by Lucy’s story.

Lucy is a wonderful character, who has been meticulously constructed. I loved the way she subverted the expectations of Victorian women, prioritising her education and refusing to marry. I don’t want to go into too many details about her story, because of spoilers, but I was rooting for her the whole way through and I hoped she would be able to live the life she wanted.

The Death And Life Of Lucy Westenra is told over two time frames, and so we meet Kate in the present day. Kate seems a little unsure of what she wants to do next, but I loved the passion she poured into finding out more about Lucy, and I warmed to her quite easily. Rosie Fiore weaves Kate and Lucy’s stories together really well and I was intrigued to see how both narratives would come together.

There are a few twists and turns as the novel gathers pace and I was really interested to see how events would play out for both characters.

The Death And Life Of Lucy Westenra is available from Amazon.

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