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The novel begins with Becky’s debutante ball in Victorian era Massachusetts. A striking stranger arrives fashionable late and beguiles Becky into taking a walk with him outside without a chaperone. Ludwing Von Vanderblatt is a vampire and murders Becky, leaving her body behind in the night to become one of the undead. He digs up her grave and brings her body back to his home, telling her when she awakens that she is to be his immortal bride. Ludwing soon brings home another young debutante, however, and his rules about how vampires must behave chafe on Becky. When her father visits the farmhouse in search of answers and suffers a fatal heart attack, circumstances begin to unfold which draw Becky back to her beloved family home, bringing with her terror and death.
Forever in Vein is a vampire story in the classic tradition. These vampires are not the tame, conflicted teen heartthrobs that have been popular of late. Ludwing Von Vanderblatt and his family are ruthless, sociopathic predators. They live in a ramshackle farmhouse full of dust and cobwebs, bats and ravens. They sleep in coffins and drink blood from hapless victims and bury bodies with ease.
Despite having the traditional handsome brooding male vampire and his harem of beautiful women, Lagreca subverts the trope beautifully with her strong female characters. The book begins with Ludwing changing first Becky, then Carina, both virginal debutantes who fulfill the classic role of damsel in distress, needing to be rescued. As the plot unfolds, however, the male characters begin to display myriad character flaws and weaknesses, those who survive, that is. Ludwing proves to be unfaithful and weak-willed, a slave to his physical urges and to the beautiful temptress Gretchen, his maker. Lady Georgia’s husband has a weak heart and her lover Harvey, who professes his love to her, is also unfaithful.
The heroines of the story, Becky and her mother, Georgia, are the driving force of the novel, though they each have their own weaknesses. Given the Victorian setting and times, they display a frailty and a lack of perceived agency. They both allow their lovers to emotionally and verbally abuse and manipulate them. Despite this, they are the characters whose actions and choices move the plot forward. Though Becky is told of the rules and restrictions of her new undead life, she consistently circumvents and ignores them to do whatever she wishes.
Forever in Vein is not without its flaws, though I consider them to be minor. There are a few typos and continuity errors and the writing could be a bit more polished in some places. The use of vein in the title reads as a clever play on words from the typical phrase “in vain,” but this is not the only place in which Lagreca mixes up her homophones, to a less charming effect.
I am giving Forever in Vein a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. Despite some minor editing issues, the novel is a refreshing return of the vampire to the horror genre, in the style of Ann Rice or Bram Stoker. Lagreca manages to create a uniquely alluring world of Gothic style horror and leaves readers waiting anxiously for the next installment.
***
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I also like books set in New England, so I am going to check this one out!
