Book review
Written by Jesse Bullington
Orbit Paperback
Release date Out now

In the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, a young African slave girl, Awa, is forced into an apprenticeship with a necromancer. Cursed to learn his teachings and live out her life only to better serve him in death, she roams Renaissance Europe in the hope of finding a way to free herself from his grasp...

The title of Jesse Bullington’s latest book is certainly apt. This is an experimental story in which the idea of mortality is so dissected, so exposed and so mutilated, that the novel itself can be seen as an enterprise of death.

It’s not only the concept of mortality that fascinates Bullington, as sexuality, morality, romance and sanity are mutated in unimaginable ways. Less savoury activities such as cannibalism and necrophilia are taken to new levels: anybody easily (or even not so easily) offended should perhaps pause before embarking on this particular literary experience.

The dark and grisly setting of medieval Europe swaddles Awa on her seemingly futile journey as she struggles to come to terms with both her situation and the changes she suffers as a result of them. It’s a captivating and moving plight that is occasionally hampered by the sudden shifts in tone, from nauseating to comic, and by the confusing use of altering points of view and jumps in time. The rules over how corpses can be re-animated (and how spirits remain within or without their hosts) also seems to vary, and the story often ploughs ahead with little regard for comprehension.

Nevertheless, death has never been as scary as it is here. The flippancy with which life is taken and the multitude of horrifying possibilities that await both body and spirit are truly appalling. Readers have always been captivated by the appalling and perverse, and The Enterprise of Death is merely the latest example of this long literary tradition. As you scrunch up your nose in disgust, you’ll be keener than ever to see what horrors await you next. Alice Wybrew

VERDICT: 7/10
Unforgiving, unhesitating and unforgettable, this is a story that will certainly stick in your mind.