When zombies take the East Coast, it’s time to strike out for the West. Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland, which came out early last year, is the sequel to Dread Nation, a captivating alternate history that imagines a world where the Civil War was derailed by the rise of the restless dead and young Black girls are trained in combat to fend off the oncoming hordes. If you enjoyed the first book, you don’t want to miss this thrilling conclusion to the duology.
Deathless Divide picks up right where Dread Nation left off, with Jane and Katherine fleeing from the white supremecist town of Summerland as it is overrun by a horde of shamblers. Together with a band of friends, they set out for a more promising town: the predominantly Black community of Nicodemus. When they arrive, the girls are surprised to see some familiar faces, including that of Gideon Carr—the young scientist convinced he has discovered a vaccine that can inoculate against the dead. Though Gideon’s visions of a zombie-free future are appealing, Jane has learned not to put her trust in pretty faces and impossible promises. When Gideon’s reckless pursuit of science endangers the entire town, amidst news that the walled cities of the East Coast have fallen, Jane and Katherine are propelled into separate journeys to the last safe haven: the golden hills of California.
Gideon Carr falls into a popular trope for Gothic villains: the mad scientist. Gideon starts off with noble intentions: he believes that he can end the zombie plague once and for all by creating a vaccine that will prevent those who have been bitten by a shambler from turning. But Gideon’s single-minded focus on this end-goal drives him to commit unconscionable acts in pursuit of it. Gideon experiments with his formula on unwilling or ill-informed test subjects and his schemes begin to result in an increasingly high body count. Like his literary predecessor Victor Frankenstein, Gideon is so focused on the potential for scientific achievement that he fails to reckon with the real-world consequences of his experiments and the suffering they produce. Also like Frankenstein, Gideon is a creator of monsters. This is true in a literal sense—many of his test subjects become zombies themselves when his experiment fails. But those that survive often become a different sort of monster. Hardened by her suffering, Jane must take on an element of monstrosity in order to survive in a monstrous world. And like Frankenstein’s monster, she will travel across all terrains in tireless pursuit of the man who made her what she is.
In Dread Nation, Jane battles external monsters—not just zombies, but the monstrous institution of white supremacy and those who seek to subjugate others. Deathless Divide is much more focused on a battle with internal monsters. In the second half of the novel, Jane is in danger of becoming the very monster she’s been fighting against (again, in both a literal and a figurative sense). Like Gideon Carr, she develops a singularity of purpose that she is willing to sacrifice all else to. Jane becomes fixated on revenge, and it makes her a colder, crueler person. She is soon leaving a string of bodies in her wake as she travels across the country—although, admittedly, they are fewer in number and not as innocent as Gideon’s victims. Perhaps more telling is the way that Jane sacrifices friendships, relationships, and opportunities for her own happiness to the goal of hunting down Gideon. Unlike Gideon, however, Jane recognizes this monstrosity in herself and actively struggles against it. She will sacrifice friendships, but will she sacrifice her friends’ lives? Ultimately, Jane discovers that monstrosity isn’t something that someone else can create in you, it is something you choose for yourself through your own actions.
If you want to join me in reading Deathless Divide, you can find it on shelves at your favorite local retailer, or buy a copy online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. If you’ve already read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments below!