Thirst covers a topic I haven’t read about in a long time – vampires. Translated from its original Spanish by Heather Cleary, Thirst is a tense, emotive vampire story set in Buenos Aires, Argentina – both in 1871 and the present day.
Opening sentence: The day is white; its glare burns if you look straight at the sky.
Nothing like a good vampire story
As far as mythical creatures go, vampires are my favourites. I haven’t read a book that features them since the Anne Rice classics, I think. I loved those as a teenager and always like other takes on the myth. While Thirst keeps things as you would expect in terms of the Dracula-led origin story of vampires, it doesn’t take the tale where you think it will go. It focuses on themes of sense-of-self, loneliness and the myriad expectations placed on women.
“Nothing I do makes sense,” I explained, and for the first time I understood that it was true. “I was dragged into this story; my only freedom is to create.”
I enjoyed the structure – in part one we get the back story of the young, female vampire moving from her creation in Europe to Buenos Aires in 1871, with a lot of the story taking place in what was then called the Cementerio del Norte, now known as La Recoleta – a beautiful cemetery with famous residents such as Eva Peron ‘Evita’.
Part two is set in the present day and here Thirst explores the heavy mental load of a modern woman – her mother’s illness, being a single parent, her job – the idea of escaping all of it is very tantalising. Something we can all relate to. Parts one and two do come together, in a fragile yet volatile way.
On the other hand, it was a religion founded on a murder. How could I not find that appealing?
I also liked Thirst‘s brutal takes on religion and discovered this terrifying painting from 1781 – The Nightmare – that depicts a sleep paralysis demon – linking to the vampires stealing into bedrooms in the dead of night part of the myth.
Thirst is lyrically written, with characters you care about – undead or not – and I enjoyed its feminist themes and exploration of the expectations on women.
Overall melancholic and thoughtful in its tone, a very engrossing read.
