And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed

And What Can We Offer You Tonight is a dystopian future sci-fi/fantasy blend. It invites you into its familiar-but-not world in the first scene, as our characters—courtesans in a high end House in a flooded, canal-crossed world—set out to perform the one meaningful ritual left to them: a death rite for one of their own, who has been killed at the hands of a client. This opening gives us a whole lot at once: a savage and sensory setting; an understanding of what matters; the stakes of disobedience; a strong POV character voice.

It’s not hard to see this future, where the rich and privileged are the only ones who are safe, and the rest scramble to survive and stay out of reach of the sinister “culls.” In House Bicchieri, the courtesans are guaranteed protection in exchange for their very selves—and consider themselves lucky for it.

Technology in the House is used for body augmentation—one courtesan has wings, hair can glow or be reticulated to look like cascading leaves; our narrator Jewel has a bra implant that shifts with her position to keep her breasts high and appealing. Although Jewel is deeply enmeshed in the House, an eleven-year veteran who has never stepped a toe out of line, her rage simmers throughout her narration, keeping company with her fear.

When Jewel’s friend and fellow courtesan Winfield comes back to life during her own funeral, she becomes both a terrifying secret to be hidden and an exhilarating freedom. Winfield, her body opalescent after a week in a fridge, is no longer constrained by the things that keep the living in line. She sets out for revenge, and it is glorious.

This resurrection tips the story into the fantastical in the best kind of way. It’s made clear that the undead are not a part of this world, and yet the how and the why of it are mostly handwaved. This is one of my favourite things about the novella form: the way that worlds are created with just enough carefully crafted elements and strong imagery to bring them alive and to gain your trust, and the rest is on you. Novellas just don’t have the time or the space to hold your hand, and I love that about them.

Because ultimately, And What Can We Offer You Tonight isn’t a story about zombies or necromancy or even revenge. It’s a story about Jewel, and the way she wrestles with her conflicting needs for safety and shelter in a nightmarish world; her need for dignity, self-worth, and loyalty to those she loves. It’s a story about Jewel as she tries to keep body and soul together.

Here comes my usual line when I review novellas: saying too much would be a crime when the text is so gorgeously and impeccably brief. I will say that at a little over 20 thousand words, this story doesn’t pull any punches. World, character, language: chef’s kiss.

If you haven’t read this novella or Premee Mohamed’s many other books and short stories, you are in for a real treat. She never disappoints.