DuMort by Michelle Tang

I would like to thank Ghost Orchid Press for a copy of this novella in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Ghost Orchid Press

Published – Out Now

Price – £2.99 ebook

Mrs. Mina Braithwaite has never quite fit into Mydalla’s polite society. Her features are so different from the other noblewomen, more like the city’s foreign workers, and she chafes at all the rules. Then there’s the furious entity that has followed her for years, crawling from shadows to hurt her and staining every memory with fear. Desperate for help, Mina crashes a private gathering to see the infamous occultist Alexandre DuMort in action. She doesn't expect the pull of attraction towards the man, nor his invitation to join him in his work.

But DuMort has enemies, dangerous ones, and they dog his steps as closely as Mina's entity does hers. Mina must choose between her old life, and the angry spirit that stalks her, or follow the famed occultist down a new path, where even worse things might haunt her.

Like the truth.

An appropriate time of year for looking at being haunted. By default, when reading fantasy or horror we think of the ghost but being haunted is also an expression of when we feel the past coming back to us, the dreams we never got round to making true or the hopes we fear we cannot see happening. In Michelle Tang’s dark and atmospheric horror novella DuMort we have a disturbing tale of a woman plunged into the supernatural but at the same time her past, present and future all create huge uncertainty for her.

Mrs Mina Braithwaite is a member of Mydella’s richer part of society but is not one well tolerated. Not being white she is often only tolerated for her family wealth more than welcomed with open arms. Her marriage has moved into long periods of uncomfortable silence with her husband and now there appears to be a ghost attacking her. In Mydella this is a dangerous thing to discuss as the laws of the country punish any dealings with the realms of superstition with imprisonment and often death for any practitioners. Having survived being attacked Mina seeks out DuMort a famed medium known for his ability to talk to spirits who she is aware is visiting Mydella for a tour (in secret). The two strike up an unlikely partnership and then over a few days and nights Mina tries to get answers to many family secrets but danger gets nearer and nearer.

I really enjoyed this slice of gothic horror its very inventive and tightly delivers a supernatural mystery for us to solve. The country of Mydella is this dark oppressive place with a feel of the Victorian about it but here where mediums are considered a menace and the populace all see from the skyline the city’s prison that anyone breaking these rules will go to. It feels an oppressive place and taking place at night and often with characters acting furtively this feels a place of secrets, betrayals and oppression all of which comes into the story.

At its heart we have Mina and DuMort. Mina is a woman desperate for help but also very much her own woman – having independent wealth helps but she is we find quite alone. Her original family all deceased and the society she is part of isn’t respectful of someone who is not white and native to Mydella. Tang very perceptively tells us a lot of Mydellan society in just these short scenes, and it helps impress upon us the danger that Mina is in if she is found out, she has very little to save her beyond her family name.

Alongside her though is the fascinatingly enigmatic DuMort. Very controlled and magnetic in all his scenes when he appears and we ponder for a while if his powers are real or not. We get to see him ‘perform’ very effectively for the elites of Mydella and yet we also get to see his compassion and interest in Mina. They become a fascinating double act as we wonder about his motivations and how these two characters will develop. I really liked how their scenes were so compelling and filled with lots of subtle character work as to how they may feel about one another. Tang has a set this mystery up for a great finale plunging both characters into immense peril and then finally revealing what has been going on. It was a very unexpected reveal that really works as subtle clues are finally explained and subtly changes the tone of the story with an empowering ending, although I think there was a little room for a slightly longer coda to the tale.

DuMort is a short sharp gothic treat of a novella and the incentive setting and characters. Tang has really created something unexpected and yet totally absorbing. Highly recommended for a nighttime read!