Hannah’s Pick of the Week: Bone of My Bone by Johanna Van Veen

“A little blood runs down my neck, I rub at it. “That’s not very saintly of you,” I say. Her bite does not pain me overly much, but the shock of it has loosened my tongue.

“‘Tis thine own fault for believing me some meek, martyred maid. Now heed me, you wretched wench: On the morrow, the nun and thou must make haste, unless thou wouldst like to face the necromancer.“

Johanna Van Veen, Bone of My Bone, page 133

Set within the bloodied backdrop of the Thirty-Years War, Ursula and Elsebeths’ fates become entwined after Elsebeth kills the man about to defile Ursula in the woods. Ursula, naive, devout, and a Catholic nun, is attempting to reach sanctuary in another convent a ways away. Elsebeth, Lutheran, crafty, and orphaned, is attempting to find distant relatives, or anyone, really, willing to take her in. Danger lurks in every crevice, hunger in every corner, and Ursula and Elsebeth are an odd couple. Ursula’s faith is contantly being tested, and Elsebeth’s faith has already been lost.

Then, the two women come upon the skull of a supposed saint: a holy relic that promises them a wish if they return the skull to the body. This skull just so happens to be sought after by a very dangerous necromancer.

Van Veen mixes the bloody realities of history with the gothic allure of folk horror, combining religiousity and dark magic into a grim tale of survival. Her descriptions are graphic and plunge you into a world that feels alien to our own, and yet refuses to reject the humanity that lives inside of us. Germanic monsters lurk in a world of saints and sinners. A sapphic love story, a dark fantasy quest, and a look into one of the deadliest wars in Europe’s timeline, Bone of My Bone is a next great read for lovers of The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling, Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey, or Slewfoot by Brom.