Review Tuesday: Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

 

Carmilla

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

When the beautiful yet strange Carmilla is left with Laura and her her household, weird things begin to happen. 

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this sooner. This book was suggested by my best friend. It's considered the first erotic vampire story about lesbians. Take it easy, this was written in 1872 so the lesbian erotica is VERY tame. 

 

Laura is a nineteen year old woman living with her father in a secluded castle. She's naive and lonely due to lack of human connection. She is excited because her father's friend, the General, is expected to visit with his ward who is approximately her same age. On the day they receive news that the General has to attend to matters due to the sudden death of his ward. As an odd coincidence, that same day, a runaway wagon turns over in front of the castle. At this point Carmilla is left at the castle because she is too weak to continue with the journey. The rest of the story is about how Carmilla seduces Laura and makes her a victim. 

 

I, of course, condensed the story in the the most basic of themes. There is much more going on. There are also a lot of lines that need reading in between. Unfortunately, there are lots of questions that are never answered. I'll get to that.

 

During my research I found a LOT of people had an array of issues with this story. The biggest complaint is the obvious homophobia that is plain for the reader to see, if you happen to have a chip on your shoulder and choose to read between the lines in that way. Some people felt that it's written poorly. I disagree what that too. The only problem I had with the story was all the secrets. Carmilla clearly had some racket going on being dropped off into wealth and prestigious families and would wreak havoc killing all the young women in the vicinity. Who was the ringleader? Was Carmilla, indeed in charge? Was it her mother figure? What exactly were the rest of the creatures in her entourage? More vampires? I finished the book with many questions left unanswered which isn't entirely a bad thing. It's just provocative.     

Oh, in an aside... For some reason Carmilla is always portrayed as a buxom blonde, and Laura as a brunette in the more modern pop-culture. However, in this book Laura is supposed to be the shining, bright, and chaste, blonde, while Carmilla is supposed to be a youthful, beautiful, and charming, brunette.

 

While this book is in the public domain, there are a couple variations available. Many are FREE! Basically there's an edited and a less edited version. I have read them all and the extra pages aren't so wild and sexy. If you like vampire stories from BEFORE Dracula, this one is one of the most influential in the genre. Highly recommend!