Bleak yet hopeful, grounded but magical, Gabriela Houston’s debut novel The Second Bell is a quiet, powerful story of family, community and survival inspired by dark Slavic mythology. In a remote, mountainous village, Miriat gives birth to a child with two hearts – a striga – and is forced to choose between abandoning her daughter or leaving the village forever. Choosing exile, Miriat raises her daughter amongst other strigas, who teach Salka to control her second heart and the dark powers it possesses. Life in the striga village is hard but safe until nineteen year-old Salka faces a choice of her own, which puts both her and her mother at risk and threatens the balance of her life, and the village as a whole.
This is for the most part a gentle, low-key story that’s more concerned with exploring the implications of its fantastical elements on the characters than showcasing the strigas’ (supposedly) dark powers in action. For much of the story Houston only hints at what it really means to have the powers of a striga, instead focusing on the society that’s built up in the striga village centred around adherence to strict rules and behaviour. It’s a tight-knit community led by the strong presence of leader Alma, but there’s a darkness hanging over everything too. Every striga knows the cost of giving in to their second heart, and this leads to a lingering sense of vigilance and even fear. The strigas are isolated from the wider world by their nature and the terror they instil in others, but within the village there are seams of taboo and factionalism in spite of what they all share.
Miriat and Salka’s mother/daughter relationship is always at the heart of the story, and as Salka comes to terms with her nature the bond between the two women is tested, each of them considering what they’re prepared to sacrifice and why. They make for strong, compelling protagonists, and while the supporting characters don’t get as much development there’s plenty of tension to be found in Alma’s rigid determination to maintain her air of authority, and the tangle of emotion and ambition lurking beneath the surface with some of Salka’s peers. The plot moves relatively slowly, measuring out its drama at a careful pace which leaves room for Houston to develop her themes, but also to bring to vivid life the wild, harsh nature of the landscape in which the story is set. It’s a world of cold beauty, rich and vibrant with life in all of its wonders and dangers, and a perfect backdrop to the unfolding story and the magic of the strigas.
It feels genuinely refreshing to read a fantasy novel with such a powerful and well-realised mother/daughter relationship at its heart, and which really leans into an examination of this relationship with little in the way of romance or outright action and adventure. The result is a thoughtful, emotional tale with a tone all of its own, and which digs into these great characters as it puts both of them through hell – Salka’s journey isn’t easy, but it takes its toll on Miriat just as much. With the characters so well developed, when the pace ramps up and the danger intensifies, with the overt fantasy elements coming into play (and the striga powers fully revealed), the stakes feel real and the drama feels earned. This isn’t necessarily going to appeal to fantasy fans who want flashy magic front and centre alongside breathless adventure from start to finish, but readers looking for something characterful and emotional, with darkness bubbling beneath the surface, would do well to check it out.
Many thanks to Angry Robot and Gabriela Houston for sending me a review copy of The Second Bell.
See also: my interview with Gabriela Houston about The Second Bell.
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