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Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
Summary
V.E. Schwab tells three vampire stories that run side by side, centuries apart.
In 1521 Spain, María is a peasant from Santo Domingo de la Calzada who marries a viscount, thinking it will finally put her in charge of her own life. The marriage turns into a cage, and she looks for a way to avoid getting pregnant. An old acquaintance, a widowed herbalist, offers her a way out.
In 1827, Charlotte is shipped off from the English countryside to London to find a husband after her brother catches her kissing her best friend. At a ball, she meets a widow named Sabine.
In 2019, Alice, an 18-year-old Scot studying at Harvard, wakes up after a one-night stand and finds she has become a vampire. She searches Boston for the girl she spent the night with, Lottie, to figure out what happened to her.
The three threads move forward together and slowly start to touch. It's dark fantasy about desire and the cost of living forever.
Awards and nominees
- Goodreads Choice Awards 2025 · Fantasy
Beat: Katabasis
Trivia
- Schwab calls it her most autobiographical book: the three eras mirror the three stages of her own coming out.
- It's set in the same universe as The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
- Schwab wrote all three storylines in full, separately, before weaving them together.
- It debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times hardcover fiction list.
Characters
- MaríaA 16th-century Spanish peasant who marries a viscount to take control of her life.
- CharlotteA young Englishwoman sent to London in 1827 to find a husband.
- AliceAn 18-year-old Scottish student at Harvard who wakes up a vampire.
- LottieThe girl Alice spent the night with, whom she goes looking for across Boston.
About the author
V. E. SchwabAuthor of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRueAmerican fantasy writer for adults and young readers, signing V. E. Schwab on adult books and Victoria Schwab on YA and children's titles. She created the Shades of Magic series, the antiheroes of Vicious and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. She has won three Goodreads Choice Awards, most recently in 2025 for Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, and created Netflix's First Kill.
Full biography →Sources: en.wikipedia.org · goodreads.com
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