Hungerstone
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A compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula.
"Hungerstone is a delicious tribute to the inherent horrors of womanhood and the desperate and exquisite vulgarity of desire. This is everything I dream of in a novel." --Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth
It's the height of the industrial revolution and ten years into Lenore's marriage to steel magnate Henry, their relationship has soured. When Henry's ambitions take them from London to the remote British moorlands to host a hunting party, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into their lives. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night. Carmilla, who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger . . .
As the day of the hunt draws closer, Lenore begins to unravel, questioning the role she has been playing all these years. Torn between regaining her husband's affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, soon Lenore will uncover a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk.
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Community Reviews
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What is it you hunger for? As a fan of the original âCarmillaâ, Kat Dunnâs novel delivered exactly what I was hoping for: a sapphic, gory, gothic tale brimming with female rage.
I donât really have any complaints about this storyâin fact, I never wanted it to end! The story follows Lenore, the childless wife of a dismissive husband, as she tends to the new estate she has been tasked with running in preparation for her husbandâs upcoming social gatherings. On the way to her new home, she and her husband come across a person seemingly in distress: the mysterious young woman Carmilla, who soon establishes her role in Lenoreâs life.
(On second thought, I do have a single complaintâthat Carmilla never attempts to change her name into an anagram that she reinvents herself with, as she does in the original text. Where in the world was Millarca?)
(And Lenore, for the record, would have absolutely loved Chappell Roanâs âFeminomenonâ)
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