Heather Parry
Pushkin Press
30 September 2025
300
eBook - PDF
Historical Fiction
ARC via Edelweiss
Based on a gruesome true story, this is a compelling, horrifying, and heartbreaking debut novel of sisterly love, sinister obsession, and the battle to control—and challenge—a perpetrator’s twisted version of events.
Wilhelm von Tore is dying. As he looks back on his life he reflects on his youth in Dresden, his grandmother and his medical career during WWII. But mostly, he remembers his darling Luci, the dark-haired beauty promised to him years before they met.
Though only together for a few months in her first life, Wilhelm knows their love is written in the stars. And he ensures that death is only the beginning. But through the cracks in Wilhelm’s story there is another voice–that of Gabriela, and she will not let this version of events go unchallenged. She tells instead the story of her fearless sister Luciana and the madman who robbed her from her grave.
Orpheus Builds a Girl was a fascinating yet macabre story, perhaps more so knowing it was based on a true story. Both narrative threads were well written and nuanced, and it was interesting to be able to see events unfolding from two very different points of view. I found it interesting that the author chose to use the sister as the second narrator, rather than Luciana herself. This added to the atmosphere and tension and the conception of Luciana as a possession to be owned instead of a person in her own right with her own thoughts and feelings. I don't want to say too much more about the story and characters to avoid spoilers, but I would say that, with its gruesome themes, this book may not be for everyone, but if you are not phased by such content, this is certainly a thought-provoking read. I am giving it 4 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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