Book Review

The simplest way to describe Angela Carter’s collection of short stories is fairytales gone dark. She takes familiar children stories and folktales like ‘Blue Beard’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Snow White’, etc. and draws on their already bloody nature to create absorbingly dark stories.

The narrative is lush and sensual, with sexuality being one of the most explored themes in the book. The atmosphere is filled with classic gothic elements that can satisfy even the most demanding tastes: forsaken castles, dark forests, luxuriant chandeliers, sadistic counts, and countesses in scarlet heels.