Dimity’s story, Gentle Reader, is here at last!
Released May 3, 2020!
I’m rather chuffed with it too, because Defy or Defend is particularly silly. There’s a vampire hive gone badly “to Goth” that needs tidying. Dimity plus one very tolerant (slightly twirly) knight are on the job.
This one may, or may not, contain interpretive dance, wafting white nightgowns through small forests, spontaneous intellectual salons, plus *surprise* Pillover.
How does it fit in the universe?
It occurs in March of 1869 about 2 years after Poison or Protect and four years before the start of the Parasol Protectorate series.
This Delightfully Deadly book has me lampooning:
- Byron
- Emo Feels
- Industrial Rock lyrics from the 1990s
All in one REALLY bad poem.
Editing this book is also responsible for this little gem…
Note to self: “swept her up in his manly arms” is quite different from “swept her up in his many arms.”
Even if octopuses are my thing.
Inspiration!
Before you ask, Defy or Defend is indeed an ode to the fantastic Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (the movie is also excellent). I always knew Cold Comfort was a reverse Gothic, but it wasn’t until I started researching for this book that I realized it was also a makeover story.
I do love a makeover and so, it turns out, does Dimity.
I really hope you have as much fun reading this one, as I did writing it.
Special Extras for This Book
- Cover art reveal and discussion (Dimity is coming for your sparkles)
- Sample chapter & chapter titles for Defy or Defend
- Fashion and outfits to look out for in the story.
- Defy or Defend story board on Pinterest, including fashions, settings, hive extras and the Delightfully Deadly series board on Pinterest
- Article on Dracula: vampires, perversity and Victorian anxieties
- The Victorian Era: a timeline of world history, and how it intersects with fashion history
- Arsenic Green: I really hate to disappoint everyone, but Victorians weren’t killing themselves by wearing green dresses made with arsenic-based dye.
- My research into 1860s Victorian history and culture on Pinterest
- And more amazing clothing from this time period on Pinterest
- I went to the University of Nottingham for my MSc in Archaeological Materials, so I set this book in familiar territory. I worked in a pub that was partly inside one of the sandstone caves. More recently (when on book tour) I stayed in the Glass Market Hotel which was the inspiration for Budgy Hall. Here is a picture of the graveyard and church next door out the window of my room in THAT hotel. So when I call this book Gothic, you can see where I’m coming from!
Incidentally, here is a very fun fact about Nottingham!
Characters!
The cast of characters features the irrepressible Dimity Ann Plumleigh-Teignmott from the Finishing School series, all grown up and forging her own way.
Or is she?
- Dimity’s Character Design Board on Pinterest (actress inspiration, more fashion, Victorian paintings)
- Dimity’s wikia
Dimity is inspired by my BFF, Phrannish…
Sir Crispin Bontwee is Dimity’s love interest in this book…
- Cris’s character design board on Pinterest
There is in fact a whole section with interpretive dance and ballet and such, so when this came up on Twitter regarding my cat… well I knew it also should go in the special extras section for this book.
And I am terribly excited to introduce, Justice my favorite vampire character in this book!
Justice wears an open-necked poet shirt at the beginning of Dimity’s sojourn at the hive (much to her shock). Then at one point there is a nightgown incident, it’s all very dramatic.
So I really hope you have as much fun reading this one, as I did writing it.
Parasol Les Modes Parisiennes September, 1869 Plate Number v. 47, 117
What people are saying about this book:
Rally the Readers says:
“Defy or Defend was perfect from beginning to end: the romance, the mission to save the hive, the friends from other Parasolverse stories, and as always with Gail Carriger’s books, the humor!”
Karen McCoy Interview’s Gail Carriger about Defy or Defend
“This book was such a delight. Watching Dimity at work, cheerfully setting the [un]dead to rights and bringing, er, life back to dark and dangerous places kept the pages turning–especially with a worse kind of death overshadowing all.”
~ Shelley Adina (Author of The Magnificent Devices Devices series)
“I love Dimity, I love Crispin and his morality, and I love how much a change of scenery can change not only a person, but their outlook on life as well. If you’re looking for more of Gail Carriger’s writing, or just want to know what happened to the girls after Finishing School, then you need to read this book next!”
“I recommend the book to fans of Gail Carriger’s other supernatural Victoriana books. I also suggest it’s a pretty good place for a new reader to dip their toes in, since the book stands alone well and introduces the particular flavour of Carriger vampires (and werewolves, but less so).”
“I enjoyed the characters and the story, this was great fun to read and full of humor.”
“Naturally you will get more out of the book if you are familiar with the world and the characters from previous books, but it’s not a requirement and you will easily fall in love with the characters without having to go back and read the whole series etc.”
“I chuckled lots (both at the witty words, and the story itself), and enjoyed the whole book immensely. All the characters are well written – they all have their own personalities and motivations, and seem real.”
~ Roberta Reads says (of the Defy or Defend audiobook)
Yours (surrounded by apple green),
Miss Gail
P.S. Those of you who know me if old, know that I always buy a new pair of shoes for myself when I have a new book out. Well this one also released around my birthday and I discovered Poshmark. So instead of one fancy pair, I bought a practical pair, a skirt, and a necklace in honor of DEFY OR DEFEND. Dimity would approve, I think.
That’s an Eva Mendes “umbrella skirt” that also comes in black and red. No longer for sale but I found a few on Poshmark if you are as excited as I was.
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Defy or Defend, a new Delightfully Deadly book featuring Dimity!
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Dimity, London’s cheerfullest spy, must fix a broken vampire hive while a gentle soldier tries to keep her safe. A charming makeover story set in the popular Parasolverse.
It’s a battle for survival… and wallpaper!
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Tisane of Nifty
Amazing chocolates I got for myself for my birthday from Belle Monde Chocolates. Just insanely delicious.
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Quote to Sip
“I was ambushed, and she forcibly read her poetry at me.”
~ Overheard at the bookstore
Tags: DEFY OR DEFEND
LOVED Dimity’s book! Read it on release day, posted a review, and then read it again the next day. So much fun! Next favorite novella after How to Marry a Werewolf.
Thank you so so much!!!!