Title: The Bloody Chamber
Author: Angela Carter
In: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Romance
Pace: Slow
Format: Novella
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Year: 1979
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘Oh God,’ he said.

“The Bloody Chamber” is based on the legend of Bluebeard. The nameless heroine tells the story many years after the events in it happened. She narrates in present tense, going back to the age of seventeen, when she is married off to a Marquis.

It took me a little while to become enthralled with The Bloody Chamber. It was recommended to me by a lecturer, and, although it didn’t fascinate me in the first words, I decided to give it a go. And, in a round-about way, I’m glad that I did. This isn’t a story that I would read again and again and again. But, it is one that I would recommend to anyone who likes to read and wants to broaden their horizons.

Even a month after reading The Bloody Chamber, the story and its power sticks with me. The technicality of the writing gives you a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach from the first, opening words (or it could have just been the title). The innocence of the main character shrieks from the pages, and the words. The way that the words and prose flows, gives the entire story a musical flow that has left phrases and words spinning through my head since the moment I read the story.

Image source: Angela Carter