Graveminder
by Melissa Marr
HarperCollins, 2012
324 Pages
Young Adult / Adult
Byron Montgomery and Rebekkah Barrow are two souls drawn together by the duties and abilities they have inherited towards caring for the dead. This slow-burn American gothic is as much Paranormal Romance as it is a ghost story with zombies.
Now, in general, I enjoy the fact that these days everyone has heard of Cthulhu and that zombies have gone mainstream with the advent of The Living Dead, but in the case of this novel, I believe that to be a detriment. This is a classy, atmospheric horror novel, almost a modern Victorian set in the American South, and it contains an element of loved ones rising from the grave. It’s not a blood-fest, there is no zombie contagion, it’s just creepy. And I love it for that alone.
There is truly suspenseful exposition as the reader is shown Hitchcock’s “bomb under the table” by way of the Undertaker and what he learns in the Land of the Dead, while the tension builds as we watch the Graveminder approach dangers we clearly recognize, but she does not yet understand… and may kill her.
What has been planned for generations goes into effect when the current Graveminder, Maylene, is killed by Daisha, a girl who has woken up dead.
Her replacement has to quickly learn the ins and outs of the position, one inherited, always by one of the Barrow women. So we enter the familiar partnership of the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper. There are no Ghostbusters here, though– the Undertaker is guardian of the gate to the other world, and the Graveminder tends to souls this side of the soil in Claysville.
“I’m the Graveminder. It’s what I do. The dead come knocking, and I set things right.”
“Put us back.”
“Word, drink and food,” Maylene murmured. “I gave you all three. If you’d been buried here…”
The families of both the Graveminder and the Undertaker have taken pains to protect them from this terrible inheritance for as long as possible. But now it’s too late to teach them properly.
The family trees got really confusing at first. The families are modern, with divorce, adoption, love without marriage; roles are fluid. (Maybe it was because I was listening to this one in AudioBook format, too.) The relationships within each are revealed one step at a time, and there is good reason. It all becomes clear by the end.
The last Undertaker, Byron’s father William, takes them to the other side of the veil to meet Mr D., (he goes by “Charlie”). There is a contract. The folks born in Claysville stay happy and healthy until 80 unless they are the victim of an accident. No disease, no mental illness. The price is, they have to stay there. And their graves must be minded, or they will return, and hungry.
Sleep well, and stay where I put you.
The contract must be kept a secret; that’s where the Graveminder and Undertaker come in. It’s their job to keep it all running smoothly. For an all expenses paid way of life, they bear the responsibility of keeping the dead in their graves, and when an accident happens, the Undertaker acts as a guide through the Land of the Dead for the Graveminder, to whom the un-tended dead are drawn. The Town Council knows only what they need to and get a headache if they hear too much. The rest is explained to them by the journals of Rebekah and Byron’s predecessors and Mr. D.
The Land of the Dead gets kind of weird– the serious paranormal romance suddenly turns very nearly into fantasy, where many time eras converge and overlap, but the characters are consistent and compelling. This Land of the Dead is a sort of halfway place, not really Heaven or Hell or purgatory, with its own set of rules and politics, and the Graveminder can be mortally hurt there. The rules and characters just start to get good, so I’ll be looking for more adventures in this world. (No, thankfully, it doesn’t go Sci-Fi here the way Gormenghast unforgivably did in Titus Alone.)
In the land of the living, the dead can float, and teleport (like The X-men’s Nightcrawler), but they are usually solid. Luckily, their bite may hurt, but is not infectious. (A nice break from the standard motif.)
There is a twist at the end that is quite nice. It’s not just a simple catch-the-bad-guy hunt. In fact, there are a couple satisfying turns in the plot that will keep you guessing. The character of Mr. D is also tenuous. An anti-hero, perhaps? And there is Alicia, a bartender and gun-dealer in the spirit world. I’d love to learn more about her.
In the midst of the insanity of being introduced to this new lifestyle, the partners have to capture Daisha, who has been attacking, sometimes killing townsfolk. Her story is sad, and I was happy… in a disturbing sort of way, to see her get revenge.
All along, Beks wants to leave. She’s born to be a drifter. She’s been avoiding a serious relationship with Byron for years. Then the Claysville curse kicks in and she realizes she truly loves him. Or does she. Seems the Graveminder and Undertaker are destined to fall in love. Is it real, or is it prescribed by the town’s contract? How could they ever tell? Oh the angst. Poor Byron. Love can be cruel.
Do you think you’ll come back different? I’ve wondered what would happen if a Graveminder became one of the hungry dead.
Marr has released a short story called Guns for the Dead, set in the world of Graveminder that offers a “sneak peek” at another of her books, The Arrivals. There are also rumors of another novella that has -ahem- not yet been released.
