Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil Book Cover Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
978-1250320537
V. E. Schwab
LGBTQ+ Fantasy Fiction
Tor Books
June 10, 2025
Hardcover, paperback, E-Book, Audiobook
544

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.

1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” questions whether immortality is a gift or a burden

This book reminded me a lot of Addie LaRue at first—there’s that same quiet, literary feel to the writing that pulls you in slowly. Maria’s is ultimately a story of ambition, but it begins as a story of seeking freedom from the expectations and duties society imposed on her. But this time we have vampires, romances, and much more complicated motivations. 

it is also an exploration of ambition, desire and rage

Three centuries‑spanning narratives follow María in 16th‑century Spain, bound to a loveless marriage until she encounters Sabine, a mysterious widow who offers an escape. In 1827 London, Charlotte is uninterested in the path society wants her to follow and finds an escape. Finally, in 2019 Boston, Scottish student Alice’s life is upended after a hookup, leaving her haunted by hunger and rage as she hunts for answers. 

Three women, separated by centuries, are bound together by an invisible thread that weaves through time.

V. E. Schwab’s brings her unique narrative style

What I love (and sometimes struggle with!) in Schwab’s books is how she forces you to slow down. I’m always anxious to know how things end, but just like with Addie, she made me sit with the characters, understand them, and feel the weight of time passing. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil has pacing issues at times, but the ending was worth it—memorable and impactful.

A haunting exploration of ambition, love and rage
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