A Natural Consequence: A Guest Post by Dawn Kurtagich
Hardcover $28.99
The Madness: A Novel
The Madness: A Novel
In Stock Online
Hardcover $28.99
A haunting mystery with an edge of horror, perfect for fans of Dracula and The Maidens by Alex Michaelides.
A haunting mystery with an edge of horror, perfect for fans of Dracula and The Maidens by Alex Michaelides.
I first read Dracula while waiting for a liver transplant. It was required reading for my university degree, and while I loved the gothic atmosphere, the writing, and the story, I remember feeling discomfited by the portrayal of women. Mina, though useful as a tool for research, is far too delicate to go into battle alongside the men. Lucy’s purity as a virtue in stark contrast to Dracula’s wives—aggressive, sexual, voluptuous, struck me as problematic. Each woman’s described worth was often linked to her passivity, her purity, and her physical features. The highest praise Mina receives is that she has the mind of a man—but is excluded from the team nevertheless. This side-lining, this implicit sense of dismissal, was something I experienced first hand during the time I was reading Dracula. I had recently moved and, because I already had a known degenerative liver condition, had gone to see my new doctor at the local surgery, to introduce myself and discuss an array of troubling new symptoms. Though I was visibly jaundiced, he jovially dismissed me and sent me home without even a cursory examination. With easy calm, he effectively sent me home to die. Infuriated and terrified, I texted my last doctor, who told me to see him immediately. It turned out I was in liver failure and I was listed for transplant the following week. Concurrently as I began plotting The Madness, there were significant, real-world developments: Weinstein, #MeToo, Epstein—so many that it became clear that there was a major story to tell. It seemed timely to re-tell Dracula giving agency to the female characters and explore the ways in which the breezy dismissal of women’s stories and perspectives gives cover to malevolent abusers, power brokers, and weak, corrupt, ambitious actors.
But I needed a way to make The Madness my own. I live in rural North Wales, and there truly is magic here. It’s an ancient place with Medieval sensibilities, where Christian and pagan symbols sit side by side. In a church you may find carvings of Greenman next to the crosses. The atmosphere in Wales lends itself to a dark, gothic story. People know North Wales as a tourist destination, but when they’re not here there’s a whole different North Wales. It is a moody, brooding place full of browns, blues, and greys, a wet, spongy landscape with plumbeous, low-hanging clouds and a tangible something in the air. It feels ancient… You can’t untie Wales from its history, nor from its folklore. It’s in every flag, every doorpost, every castle, every lintel. So when I set The Madness here, the folklore bled into it as a natural consequence.
Mina became Doctor Mina Murray.
Van Helsing became Vanessa Murray and Helen Singer.
Quincy became Officer Quincy Morris (Lucy’s ex-girlfriend).
And Whitby became Wales.
