Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
A sapphic vampire novella that predated Bram Stoker's Dracula!
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Pros: classic literature that doesn’t suck, lesbian literature, vampires
Cons: I wish it had been written by a woman but I’ll get over it
Hannah and I went to one of our local book shops and she handed this to me. "I think you will really like this book because it predates Dracula and also... lesbian vampires."
I immediately took it to the checkout counter.
I loved this whole experience. From the way it was described to me at the bookstore, to the rainy day where I chose to read it to the version of the book I got with editing and annotations by Carmen Maria Machado. Her annotations made the whole experience feel shared in a way. Like someone's popping their head in to tell you something cool about what you just read but they don't require you to actually engage with them at all. That's ideal to me. Plus, I’m a fan of Machado.
Even though, I like to go into a book blindly, I appreciated the summary upfront. This may just be my bisexual insecurity speaking but if Hannah hadn't told me about the lesbian aspects, I would've been convincing myself that it wasn't queer at all and I just wanted it to be. Flashbacks to the first time I had a crush on a girl and tried to talk myself out of it for hours. Spoiler alert, it didn't work and we dated for 2 years.
MOVING ON!
I loved the characters. Carmilla of course, was frightening in a way but also intriguing. I loved their relationship. The nightmares, their first meeting and then their second meeting, then the realization of it all... I had such a fun time with this one. I plan to read it over and over again until my eyes no longer work.
This is another short read, so I can't give too much away. Even for present day, it was a treat to read. I can't imagine reading this over 200 years ago would've made me clutch my pearls. I am assuming I would've had pearls back then, I don't know.
Anyway... Read this, it’s a classic, it’s gay, it’s great!