Hungerstone
in a nutshell: It's a retelling of Carmilla set in Victorian England, with a narrative driven entirely by Lenore (fka Laura), who is now an overwhelmed and unfulfilled housewife with a drab yet demanding life that is upended when an insanely enigmatic and inscrutably sexy stranger crashes into her household and asks "damn bitch you live like this?" If you have perhaps been on a lesbian vampire kick (hello!) and especially if you haven't consumed any other Carmilla remixes, you're going to enjoy this one!
main themes: So very repressed, so very angry, so very, very hungry.
the vibes: * FE * MALE * RAGE * Desired denied, desire explored. Feminine cages and social climbing and ugh, fucking huzzbands. Which way, western woman, now that the life you painstakingly built has crumbled and you are left with nothing to show for your adherence to Life's Rules and societal expectations? The female tendency to be at war with one's own body, before learning to be teammates in sync towards the greater good (kind of like Evangelion, but with the greater good being "finally doing whatever I goddamn please.") The power of finally getting your nut, girl, after a lifetime of bad sex. Oh, and a sapphic vampire, of fucking course.
the writing: The back of the book jacket boasts that this is "A compulsively feminist reworking of Carmilla" which, I understand what all of those words mean, but I do not understand what they mean together in this context. What is "compulsively feminist?" I am not smart, but I am not dumb. Looked up "compulsive" and "compel" in my Merriam-Webster app, and yet am dumbfounded by this phrasing. Admittedly I have not read the OG Carmilla-- was it decidedly un-feminist? I feel that detail would be, I don't know, known? Am I thinking too much on this? Maybe, but I have found myself mulling over "compulsively feminist" for three days now and all I can muster is an image of Gertrude Stein at a pulpit, shouting "The power of Mary Wollstonecraft compels you!" UPDATE: I realize now that the copy reads, "A compulsive feminist reworking" not "compulsively" the three days I spent reading this book and pondering a nonexistent phrase prove that yes, I am not smart! ANYWAY. The quote page that opens this book is the infamous "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"-- The VVitch so, you know, if that totally grabs your Millenial/Zoomer attention, you'll probably vibe with the overall writing style, which is, I've been told, compellingly feminist.
"To be a woman is a horror I can little comprehend"
Poor poor Lenore. An almost-perfect housewife in a marriage of social strategy, gallantly fulfilling all her duties except the one that eludes her still: popping out a (male) heir. She has a typical Victorian orphan sad-sack background, one that taught her to shed her dreams, desires, and personhood as her best bet for survival. Now, her huzzband is evermore distant, hanging out with a younger, hotter version of herself, and she is like, perennially sick with something she just can't kick. Only 30, it seems her hard-won life is winding down, and no one but her can be bothered to give half a shit.
"I am a mirror to those who need it. To those who hunger but deny themselves."
Enter our Carmilla! Carmilla is genuinely seductively written and shaded with just enough danger, but is still less a main character in this retelling, and more of like a coy guide from a video game, suggesting to the player 'What about looking behind that wall?' She may eat people (?) but she possesses the patience of a saint when it comes to Lenore. She repeatedly asks Lenore simple questions like "What do you want?" "Which way would you like to walk to the beach?" and Lenore is so devoid of any agency that she maddeningly cannot answer right or left. Carmilla exists to confront Lenore with the truth that she has become a shadow of herself. "Aren't you angry?" Carmilla purrs, and it takes a rather exhausting amount of time before Lenore finally can admit, yeah, actually, she is totally fucking livid. The first act a rightfully enraged Lenore commits-- fully for herself, out of her own true want-- is to kiss this weirdly powerful, secretive woman who has wormed her way into Lenore's life, and from that point on, the book gets good.
"Perhaps I might experiment with a little violence."
While the first part of the book had Lenore spiritually lobotomized, once she awakens to her wants and allows herself to take the reigns of her life, the contrast between pre-Carmilla Lenore and post-Carmilla Lenore was thankfully invigorating. I was at the end of my rope with her, but in Part 2, I was cheering 'Yesss, babe, do some violence!' While at first this change was marginal, taking the form of allowing herself to seek simple pleasures, speak her truths more freely, and be a bit of a brat, our gal was quickly formulating full on murderous revenge in no time. On Page 259 I found marginalia I had gleefully penciled in: c'mon Lenore, fuck shit UP, girl!
"My appetite is vast, and I am in agony knowing myself to be unsatisfied."
Overall, I'd categorize this as a Smart Beach Read. The plot unfolds more or less how you'd expect, but even sans surprise, the climax is still deliciously fun. The evolution of the narration from anxiety-ridden, ill at ease, stifled Victorian lady to an actualized human discovering how to be a Master of My Own Desire was satisfying. There were plenty of 'Social Issues to Discuss' baked in (compulsively feminist!) but it was done intelligently and in a way that fleshed out the patriarchal prison Lenore found herself locked in. The Acknowledgements has Dunn confessing to writing this book "in a great deal of anger and confusion, at a strange inflection point in my life where some tragedies had come to pass and I was left in the aftermath." Hell yes, Ms. Dunn! Not that you had to experience that period, of course, but that you channeled that so well into this tale. FEMALE RAGE ! Fuck shit up, Kat!