A savage, hypnotic dive into the lives and deaths of a coven of vampires living in 19th Century Paris on the cusp of revolt and revolution, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Laura Purcell and Elizabeth Kostova
Paris, 1869. The Théâtre Saint-Siméon is the place to be, if you can get in. The black slips of paper that guarantee entry are rare and highly desired, and given only to certain persons. The actors on stage are magnetic and ageless, performing only at midnight and never seen during the day…
Arnault and his clan of vampires have survived for as long as they have by observing a rigid set of rules. At night, they perform on stage at the Théâtre Saint-Siméon, picking off just enough people in the audience to survive. But they understand the city, and how to live in it without being noticed.
Their peace is shattered first with a visit from Béatrice, a witch who forms a strange connection to Arnault; then with the arrival of Victor de Rouvray and his sister Françoise, vampires from a very different world. And, as Arnault grows closer and closer to the beautiful, enigmatic Victor, he risks becoming distracted from the constant bickering of his immortal friends, from the daily running of the theatre, and worse, from the premonitions of blood, death and starvation that he receives at night.
For a terrible change is on the horizon, revolt and revolution are brewing in the streets and soon, the city, and Arnault will never be the same again.
Genre: Horror
Paris, 1869. The Théâtre Saint-Siméon is the place to be, if you can get in. The black slips of paper that guarantee entry are rare and highly desired, and given only to certain persons. The actors on stage are magnetic and ageless, performing only at midnight and never seen during the day…
Arnault and his clan of vampires have survived for as long as they have by observing a rigid set of rules. At night, they perform on stage at the Théâtre Saint-Siméon, picking off just enough people in the audience to survive. But they understand the city, and how to live in it without being noticed.
Their peace is shattered first with a visit from Béatrice, a witch who forms a strange connection to Arnault; then with the arrival of Victor de Rouvray and his sister Françoise, vampires from a very different world. And, as Arnault grows closer and closer to the beautiful, enigmatic Victor, he risks becoming distracted from the constant bickering of his immortal friends, from the daily running of the theatre, and worse, from the premonitions of blood, death and starvation that he receives at night.
For a terrible change is on the horizon, revolt and revolution are brewing in the streets and soon, the city, and Arnault will never be the same again.
Genre: Horror
Praise for this book
"Sara Hinkley's The Red Sacrament is the unholy progeny of Anne Rice and Karl Marx--and mother and father are fighting. Hinkley conjures an opulent yet sordid theater world with such sleight of hand that you nearly miss that something is terribly wrong on the streets of Paris, like a dazzling dancer executing one too many pirouettes. I gasped when she pulled back the velvet curtain." - Natalie Adler
"Lovingly crafted with scrupulous historical research and beautiful, arresting use of language. Hinkley works at the axis of passion and intelligence-her erudite curiosity for history, the arts, industry, and the sociopolitical philosophies of the time show in every word, creating an incantation that summons late 19th century Paris in charged, vivid detail. Like all exceptional theatre, The Red Sacrament is profoundly imaginative, startlingly erotic, exquisitely clever, and above all deeply entertaining. The most consequential and necessary vampire book of this generation and simply one of the most impressive literary debuts you will ever read. Truly and fully a sublime masterpiece." - Sofia Ajram
"The Red Sacrament is a novel made for vampire lovers. Expect beautiful prose, lush descriptions of Parisian life and a story that reads like a stream of blood from a bite to the neck." - V Castro
"The Red Sacrament is a fanged guillotine of a novel with its pages pressed directly to your neck. You'll absolutely lose your head over it. An unholy Anne Rice-Victor Hugo hybrid, written with an elegance akin to horror haute couture, this sumptuously gaslit grand guignol firmly places Sara Hinkley alongside the likes of Silvia Moreno Garcia and Isabel Canas." - Clay McLeod Chapman
"As elegant as it is brutal, The Red Sacrament is a nasty, atmospheric novel about capitalism and the consequences of immortality. A perfect combination of rich period detail and grimy ultraviolence." - Avery Curran
"Cleverly juxtaposing the decline of decadent French imperialism with the sensuous, jaded lives of a vampire coven dug like a tick into the skin of Paris, The Red Sacrament's hypnotic prose tackles literature's greatest parasites, seducers, and monstrosities with compassion, insight, and unrelenting clarity. A savage, homoerotic social satire of vampirism as tender as it is remorseless, this is the future of the genre, splashed across the page in blood." - Gretchen Felker-Martin
"Vampire fans, rejoice! A new successor to the throne of Anne Rice has arrived! With lush, sensual prose and authentic period detail, Sara Hinkley transports us to historical France on the jagged edge of the Belle ...poque, where dark delights await anyone with the courage to accept the invitation. Let The Red Sacrament take you behind the curtain--it has such sights to show you!" - Nicholas Kaufmann
"A magnificently operatic debut for those who prefer to read by candlelight. If you love Hilary Mantel's prose, Tana French's darkness, or Silvia Moreno Garcia's imaginary worlds-you need to put this on your to-read list. Now. I've waited three lifetimes to find a novel like this." - Molly McGhee
"The Red Sacrament is the vampire novel I did not know I hungered for all my life. Dense, erudite, complex, elegant, this impossibly-assured story presents satisfying answers to the obvious question: If you are dead, what remains worth living for." - Premee Mohamed
"As intricately beautiful and mysterious as a Gustave Moreau painting, The Red Sacrament is a triumph: sensous and seductive, arresting in its command of prose and imagery, it ensnares you as soon as the curtain rises and doesn't let go. Sara Hinkley has brought into existence a fully realised, wholly believable and original world and getting lost within it is a thrilling pleasure." - Andrea Morstabilini
"The Red Sacrament is always seeking, always beckoning, deeper into its Parisian tragedy. Hinkley sends us stalking our lead vampire's every movement while each encounter invites a Proustian resurrection of history under an immortal eye. An immersive portrait of a novel." - Hailey Piper
"Incisive, heartfelt, electrifying, in deep conversation with the vampire genre and the human race, Hinkley has written a vital book for anyone who has loved-or been heartbroken by-either one." - Emery Robin
"With The Red Sacrament, Hinkley has crafted a powerful, seductive, and bloody broth that will sustain voracious readers for decades to come." - Andrew F Sullivan
"Sara Hinkley's The Red Sacrament is bloody epic. Evoking the lushness of Anne Rice's best work, The Red Sacrament weaves a textured, rich brocade of theatrical vampires, unwitting victims, and one extremely cunning witch. This stunning debut plunges the reader in a decadent dreamscape of 1870s Paris, aswirl with gas lights, plunged in sepulchral darkness, and shot through with human emotion. Arnault lives, and I live for him." - Chelsea G Summers
"Lovingly crafted with scrupulous historical research and beautiful, arresting use of language. Hinkley works at the axis of passion and intelligence-her erudite curiosity for history, the arts, industry, and the sociopolitical philosophies of the time show in every word, creating an incantation that summons late 19th century Paris in charged, vivid detail. Like all exceptional theatre, The Red Sacrament is profoundly imaginative, startlingly erotic, exquisitely clever, and above all deeply entertaining. The most consequential and necessary vampire book of this generation and simply one of the most impressive literary debuts you will ever read. Truly and fully a sublime masterpiece." - Sofia Ajram
"The Red Sacrament is a novel made for vampire lovers. Expect beautiful prose, lush descriptions of Parisian life and a story that reads like a stream of blood from a bite to the neck." - V Castro
"The Red Sacrament is a fanged guillotine of a novel with its pages pressed directly to your neck. You'll absolutely lose your head over it. An unholy Anne Rice-Victor Hugo hybrid, written with an elegance akin to horror haute couture, this sumptuously gaslit grand guignol firmly places Sara Hinkley alongside the likes of Silvia Moreno Garcia and Isabel Canas." - Clay McLeod Chapman
"As elegant as it is brutal, The Red Sacrament is a nasty, atmospheric novel about capitalism and the consequences of immortality. A perfect combination of rich period detail and grimy ultraviolence." - Avery Curran
"Cleverly juxtaposing the decline of decadent French imperialism with the sensuous, jaded lives of a vampire coven dug like a tick into the skin of Paris, The Red Sacrament's hypnotic prose tackles literature's greatest parasites, seducers, and monstrosities with compassion, insight, and unrelenting clarity. A savage, homoerotic social satire of vampirism as tender as it is remorseless, this is the future of the genre, splashed across the page in blood." - Gretchen Felker-Martin
"Vampire fans, rejoice! A new successor to the throne of Anne Rice has arrived! With lush, sensual prose and authentic period detail, Sara Hinkley transports us to historical France on the jagged edge of the Belle ...poque, where dark delights await anyone with the courage to accept the invitation. Let The Red Sacrament take you behind the curtain--it has such sights to show you!" - Nicholas Kaufmann
"A magnificently operatic debut for those who prefer to read by candlelight. If you love Hilary Mantel's prose, Tana French's darkness, or Silvia Moreno Garcia's imaginary worlds-you need to put this on your to-read list. Now. I've waited three lifetimes to find a novel like this." - Molly McGhee
"The Red Sacrament is the vampire novel I did not know I hungered for all my life. Dense, erudite, complex, elegant, this impossibly-assured story presents satisfying answers to the obvious question: If you are dead, what remains worth living for." - Premee Mohamed
"As intricately beautiful and mysterious as a Gustave Moreau painting, The Red Sacrament is a triumph: sensous and seductive, arresting in its command of prose and imagery, it ensnares you as soon as the curtain rises and doesn't let go. Sara Hinkley has brought into existence a fully realised, wholly believable and original world and getting lost within it is a thrilling pleasure." - Andrea Morstabilini
"The Red Sacrament is always seeking, always beckoning, deeper into its Parisian tragedy. Hinkley sends us stalking our lead vampire's every movement while each encounter invites a Proustian resurrection of history under an immortal eye. An immersive portrait of a novel." - Hailey Piper
"Incisive, heartfelt, electrifying, in deep conversation with the vampire genre and the human race, Hinkley has written a vital book for anyone who has loved-or been heartbroken by-either one." - Emery Robin
"With The Red Sacrament, Hinkley has crafted a powerful, seductive, and bloody broth that will sustain voracious readers for decades to come." - Andrew F Sullivan
"Sara Hinkley's The Red Sacrament is bloody epic. Evoking the lushness of Anne Rice's best work, The Red Sacrament weaves a textured, rich brocade of theatrical vampires, unwitting victims, and one extremely cunning witch. This stunning debut plunges the reader in a decadent dreamscape of 1870s Paris, aswirl with gas lights, plunged in sepulchral darkness, and shot through with human emotion. Arnault lives, and I live for him." - Chelsea G Summers
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