Hungerstone
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Average rating4.2
FOR WHAT DO YOU HUNGER . . . ?
Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage the relationship has soured, and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry's ambitions take them from London to the Peak District, to the remote, imposing Nethershaw estate, where he plans to host a hunting party. Lenore must work to restore the crumbling house and ready it for Henry's guests - their future depends on it.
But as the couple travel through the bleak countryside, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore's life. 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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I've seen it described as "a feminist retelling of Carmilla" which surprised me as I had always thought of J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novella of Lesbian Vampires (published 25 years before Bram Stoker's Dracula) was pretty darn feminist. Le Fanu's story doesn't demonize the love between the two women, the relationship between Carmilla and Laura seemed honest and features no intervention from men. Society’s starkly negative view of gay people in England at the time makes this a highly progressive story. The classism and racism however….
Anyway Kat Dunn's (an author I am now keen to explore their back catalogue after reading this) Carmilla is now in the Parthenon of this sapphic icon. My heart appropriately belongs to Netflix's Castlevania's Carmilla Queen of Styria. Another favourite is from Theodora Goss' 2018 novel 'European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman' is my third. Camilla in this novel is more an element of nature than a character, it's this version of Laura sorry Lenore that shines for me.
Initially I did not find Lenore an engaging character which is a problem as so much time in her head. She was so full of the faults and failings of anyone in the horrible misogyny and classism of this time and place. Situated in a number of essential nineteenth-century contexts: her husband Henry’s steelworks and the consequences of industrialisation for the working class, Lenore’s role as housewife and house manager, and the intricacies of social graces in this period.
Also for those that need a heads up there are some spicy scenes in the novel.
But then around halfway through the book Laura has her coming of rage moment. The realisation that for all her efforts, planning organising and sheer willpower to forge herself safety she isn't safe. She then realises she was never safe. And this is a glorious moment that propels her agency forward.
From then on I am cheering for Lenore, and some might find the resolution contrary to what has gone before I believe it is an elegant and clever acknowledgement of all the author's evocation of the culture. And of course contrary to the trope no gays are buried in this one.
