When Margetta, a vestal dedicant, is visited by the Harper’s holy light before the Harper’s Bride dies her second death, she is slated to become His next Bride. And as His Voice lets her know, he is most eager to receive her. But something’s terribly amiss with the Harper.
Darja Malcolm-Clarke writes some great, disturbing religious imagery. The mystery of the Harper’s religion and what’s going wrong remains intriguing throughout this excellent story. The Harper’s treatment of his Brides is seriously creepy, as is by extension the general treatment of women in the story’s world. It’s not hard to read it as a critique of blind faith or the objectification of women in our society but it’s not laid on too thick.
