Bone of My Bone

Johanna van Veen has become an auto-read author for me, and Bone of My Bone is another example of the reason why. It's a sapphic folk horror set in Bavaria against the backdrop of the Thirty Years' War with witchcraft and necromancy and characters wrestling with their faith (and vampires).

As a less serious addition to the content warnings van Veen includes in the book, I am going to warn you that you may accidentally learn something unless you know a lot more than I do about 17th century European history, especially the conflict between Catholics and Protestants which triggered what (I now know) is considered to be one of, if not the, most destructive war in recorded history.

But you're also going to get a story of a nun (Ursula) and a farmgirl (Elsebeth) whose meet cute involves Elsebeth rescuing Ursula from a soldier's assault. They travel together and come across a dying man who holds a saint's skull which legend says will grant them a wish if reunited with its body, and both women have wishes, so they follow the handy map from the man's pocket which marks the location of the body and set out on their quest.

Of course, besides the general dangers of traveling during wartime, they have a specific nemesis - a necromancer who wants the skull for himself, and we follow this adventure not only through the points of view of both Elsebeth and Ursula, but also of Otto, the reanimated corpse who must do the necromancer's bidding.

These PoVs let us in on their inner thoughts and motivations, for good or ill, and while it doesn't redeem them (in particular Otto and his necromancer), it does help us understand them.

Bone of My Bone is not always an easy read, as to be expected when an author does not flinch from describing the horrors of war...not to mention the physical realities of necromancy, but van Veen's use of language in her descriptions makes it almost beautiful (or there's something really wrong with me. Or both.)

Bone of My Bone is a folk horror novel with some spice, a wartime romance with necromancy, and a dark fairy tale adventure quest, and my only request is: more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advance copy for my honest review.