Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025)

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a 2025 LGBTQ dark fantasy novel by American author V. E. Schwab. It was published by Tor Books on June 10, 2025. The novel intertwines the storylines of three lesbian vampires from different countries and periods. It won a Goodreads Choice Award in the Readers' Favorite Fantasy category. The unabridged audiobook is narrated by Marisa Calin, Katie Leung, and Julia Whelan.

Development

V. E. Schwab has stated that she considers Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil to be her most autobiographical book. She was inspired by classic vampire lore, including Carmilla and Anne Rice's work. She considers classic vampires to be inherently queer and has a lifelong love of vampires. The novel takes place in the same universe as one of her previous novels, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. She has stated the three storylines represent the three eras of her own coming out journey. She wrote the three storylines in their entirety before linking them together.

Synopsis

In 1532, María, a peasant from Santo Domingo de la Calzada, marries a wealthy viscount in an attempt to gain control over her life, but after finding herself stifled by her domineering husband and desperate to avoid pregnancy, she escapes with the help of a herbalist widow she had known as a child, who turns her into a vampire.

In 1827, Charlotte is sent from her home in rural England to live with her aunt in London and find a husband after her brother finds her kissing her best friend Jocelyn. There, she encounters a widow named Sabine, who turns her into a vampire as the two enter into a relationship.

In 2019, Alice has recently left her small town in Scotland to study at Harvard and to escape from the shadow of her more outgoing sister, Catty. After waking up after a one-night stand having turned into a vampire, she searches Boston for a stranger named Lottie, whom she hooked up with the night before her transformation.

Plot

In 1521 María, a peasant from Santo Domingo de la Calzada, meets a strange widow, who her brother thinks may be a witch. María encounters the woman at a copse of trees, gathering herbs for a tonic. The widow warns her that "in nature, beauty is a warning", when Maria attempts to pick a poisonous mushroom.

Ten years later, at nearly 18, María meets Andres de Guzman, Viscount of Olivares, and despite her reluctance, the two are married. Andres is determined to have a son, and Maria is determined not to bear him any children, so to that end she gathers herbs for a tonic. Andres begins restricting her movements, growing angry after she has left to explore the olive orchard that belongs to their estate. Soon, he orders that she not leave the house, leaving her to solace in the company of her servants, particularly her maid, Ysabel, who teaches Maria to play cards. After some time, angered at his wife's inability to produce an heir, Andres sends Maria to live with his parents, where she is kept under watch night and day, without any friends, separated from Ysabel, and Maria is plunged into deeper and deeper isolation.

Her only solace comes from the visits that she takes with her mother-in-law at the market - and it is there that she sees The Widow again. She manages to slip away from her mother-in-law and visits the widow, who now owns an apothecary. Despite not seeing each other for 10 years, the Widow has not changed. She tells Maria her name is Sabine; and they meet every time Maria can sneak away on her trips to the market. The two grow closer, and Maria confides in her that she is searching for a tonic to prevent pregnancy, and more than anything else - freedom. Sabine tells her that they could leave together if she so desired. Maria returns home where Andres forbids her from visiting The Widow, despite Maria telling him that she has gone to get a tonic to encourage pregnancy. That night, she slips out the window and goes back to Sabine, intent on taking her up on her offer.

The Widow/Sabine leans in, and Maria expects they are going to kiss, but instead, The Widow/Sabine sinks her teeth into Maria's neck. Sabine allows Maria to feed - but Maria is insatiable, and instead of stopping, drains The Widow/Sabine completely dry, killing her. Maria returns home where Andres confronts her and drags her to the bed, but Maria sinks her teeth into his throat, whispering to him that she is now Sabine. She sets the estate aflame, and vanishes into the night.

Sabine wanders for years, eventually meeting Renata and Hector, who are fellow vampires. Renata binds Sabine to her, and the three travel together for decades, until they grow too bold in their hunting, and Hector and Renata are caught and buried alive by an angry mob, Sabine only just managing to escape.

After this she travels to Venice, where in 1679 she feeds on a woman, and is found by an ancient vampire - Matteo. Matteo is able to force her out of the city, as if it is a room with a door shut in her face. He promises to show her how if she can win a game - which she does. She stays with Matteo and his human lover, Alessandro, for years, until Alessandro grows old and dies, having refused to allow Matteo to turn him. In his grief, Matteo turns another young, reckless man, who is eventually caught and killed. Sabine, who has grown angry and impatient with Matteo for not turning Alessandro when he had the chance, and his own recklessness with love, leaves. Sabine begins to recognise that as time goes on, she is losing more and more parts of herself, and forgetting her humanity, which, ultimately, she is grateful for.