I Should Read That

Book review¹

Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect Victorian governess. She’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But the longer Winifred spends within the estate’s dreary confines and the more she learns of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family, the more trouble she has sticking to her plan.

Whether creeping across the moonlit lawns in her undergarments or gently tormenting the house staff, Winifred struggles at every turn to stifle the horrid compulsions of her past until her chillingly dark imagination breaches the feeble boundary of reality on Christmas morning. Wielding her signature sardonic wit and a penchant for the gorgeously macabre, Virginia Feito returns with a vengeance in Victorian Psycho.

That title! That cover! With my background in Victorian literature and love of all things Gothic, I knew Victorian Psycho would be right up my alley.

I think the best way to describe Victorian Psycho is ‘batshit fucking crazy’. It’s a short book but it packs a serious punch, immedietly drawing us into Notty’s world and mind. Through the madness, Feito writes a refreshing take on Victorian society, class, and the Victorian family.

I think there’s a lot of places in which this book could have fallen flat, but it came together and worked so well. The main reason for this is Notty’s wonderful, totally compelling voice. She’s completely unhinged, but also funny, witty, and extremely charismatic. The decision to write this book in a first person POV was absolutely the correct one – I don’t think it would have worked without the view into Notty’s head.

Victorian Psycho is one for the ‘weird books for weird people’ crowd (like me). This most certainly not be for everyone, but the right reader will love this messed up, compelling, gory tale.

1. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review ↩︎