I received a free copy of this book, and I read it as part of the judging effort for the SFINCS3 novella competition. I’m part of Team TBR, but these thoughts are my own and do not reflect the final rating of the team.
The Butcher’s Lot
By Cate Baumer
This is one of those books that I read and didn’t write a review of right away, so now it’s two months later and I’ve forgotten most of the details of the book, like the name of the main character, and so on.
Fortunately, the story itself isn’t forgettable, and I still remember my feelings and impressions as I read it. In fact, it’s a great story, and I’m happy to recommend it for anyone with even a passing interest in the dark, the gothic, and the rebellious.
The Butcher in the book’s title is a vampire. Hundreds of years ago, she waged a war on humanity, and eventually she lost that war. Ever since then, the Butcher has been serving her penance. One week (or maybe it was a month) in each village where someone killed in the war lived. No matter that it’s been so long since the war ended that no one remembers those who died.
That’s the Butcher, and she matters, but she’s not the main character of the story.
Our main character is Marguerite (I looked it up) a woman doomed to suffer the rest of her life for the unforgivable sin of once having been young, impressionable, and trusting in someone supposed to protect her.
This may be fiction, but I have no doubts at all that Marguerite’s situation is one that countless women have found themselves in throughout the ages. The burden of unfairness she carries weighs heavy on the story, and it’s part of what makes it memorable.
Women suffer at the whims of men. So it has been, and so it continues to be.
Even then, I’m not sure the hopelessness of Marguerite’s situation that’s the message of the story. Rather, it’s about the slowly burning hope that she’ll be able to break free from the shackles society places upon her. Hope – and stubborn determination.
Marguerite may be a shunned outcast, but she’s not yet broken, and she’s not yet given up.
There’s a sense that Marguerite’s been pushed almost to the edge of what she can bear, but she’s not crossed over, and she clings to whatever dignity she can find. There’s a realness to Marguerite and her situation, and though I’m safe and warm at home under a blanket, I can still feel her despair and frustration as she labours to keep herself and her brother’s family alive.
What I’ll whine about
Nothing. It’s been so long since I read the book, and I only kept the good memories. I’m sure I’d have complaints if I’d read the book more recently, but I’m not going to go looking for stuff to complain about just for the sake of it.
What I’ll gush about
Life and emotion. Yes, it’s been a while, but what stands out to me the most is how real Marguerite felt. I still remember how she struggled, and how unfair and hopeless her situation seemed to me. In this way, she lives on outside the pages of the book, even if I no longer recall all the details of her tale.
Final Words
The Butcher’s Lot is a dark, yet vibrant, portrait of a young woman at the edge of everything she knows.
