European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very comfortable and comforting read, assuming:

A: You're a big fan of all the classic Victorian (or nearby) Horrors, SFs and Fantasies of the day.

B: You love it when minor female characters get catapulted into the limelight in frankly feminist adventures with cultured justice in mind.

C: You love roadtrip novels.


Me? I love roadtrip novels of all kinds. We even got an actual horseless carriage in this one! But mostly it was trains (Orient express!), back-country inns, and a full European vacation package.

The tangential tellings of these women's stories are delightful. And a lot less tragic. And they no longer resemble cardboard cut-outs of people! Yay!

For the literary part of me, I chortled at all the new or recurring character references. Now including a much wider cast of Dracula!


One thing I ought to mention: this is a very long novel, and while I really loved nursing a baby vampire back to sanity and enjoyed the final plot resolution a great deal, the real core of this novel is all about the JOURNEY. Like any kind of roadtrip novel. :) I took it easy and enjoyed all the sights, smells, and the spilling of blood.



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