Will I love The Bloody Chamber?

Oh, what a delightfully chilling and decadent tale written by one of the most celebrated female gothic writers of the 20th century.

Carter leads us into the manor of a wealthy and powerful businessman who has recently been widowed, yet has chosen to take another young bride quite quickly. As he guides his new wife through each luxurious room at his estate, she is devoured by all its opulence and given the keys to each room. She may roam and play wherever she desires and conduct herself as she wishes, save for the one key to the one room that… show more.

I picked this book off the shelf of my local used bookstore as a teenager, opened it up, and changed my life.

Carter’s collection of retold fairy tales is a contemporary classic for good reason: it’s frightening and wild and fraught and powerful and absolutely unforgettable. It upended my understanding of violence, of womanhood, of the stories I’d grown up being told, and it remains one of my favorite books to this day.

Fairy tales of old grab me every time—the folklore and myth are compelling. Angela Carter has a cerebral way of writing fiction that harkens back to vintage voices and that is riveting for me. Her narratives carry an elegance of fine writing I applaud.

I especially admired The Company of Wolves and Wolf-Alice. There’s something about wolf stories that draws me in. I was keen on her style of description, heavy and ornate by most standards, but she does it brilliantly. Each word brought up clear images that I could almost see on the page. In stories, I want… show more.