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Book Cover for: Victorian Psycho, Virginia Feito

Victorian Psycho

Virginia Feito

Reader Score

75%

75% of readers

recommend this book

Virginia Feito's Mrs. March was hailed as "a brilliant debut . . . [by] a writer who keeps pace with the grandees she invokes" (Sarah Ditum, Guardian)--from Daphne Du Maurier and Shirley Jackson to Patricia Highsmith. Now, Feito returns with her "silver-polish sentences and her eerie psychological acumen" (Constance Grady, Vox) to unleash an entirely new antihero on us all.

Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess--she'll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate's dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family--Mr. Pounds can't keep his eyes off Winifred's chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband's wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . .

Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
  • Publish Date: Feb 4th, 2025
  • Pages: 208
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.60in - 5.50in - 0.80in - 0.75lb
  • EAN: 9781631498633
  • Categories: Horror - GeneralThrillers - SuspenseHumorous - Dark Humor

About the Author

Feito, Virginia: - Virginia Feito, raised in Madrid and Paris, studied English and drama at Queen Mary University of London and advertising at Miami Ad School. She writes regularly for Vanity Fair Spain and is the author of the acclaimed Mrs. March.

Praise for this book

Relentlessly moody, in the best possible way, Victorian Psycho asks how anyone could live sanely in a time so systemically cruel. Atmospheric, funny, bloody as hell--I finished it in one sitting.--Ainslie Hogarth, author of Motherthing and Normal Women
A deliciously devious new book.-- "People"
A twisted, bloodthirsty governess celebrates Christmas with her new employers. Where ironic horror and horrific irony meet, this unbridled madhouse of a novel dazzles like a bloody jewel.-- "Kirkus Reviews"
Riotous, devilishly clever, and deliciously appalling, Victorian Psycho is flat-out brilliant. No one is spared (not even us) from Winifred's wrathful whims while Virginia Feito deftly presents the case that Winifred is being quite reasonable. Long live Winifred! She is the antihero this, or any other, century deserves.--Paul Tremblay, New York Times best-selling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts
Victorian Psycho is that rare, extraordinary book that both delivers and completely confounds all your expectations. . . . By drawing from the roots of the gothic, Virginia Feito seems to have invented an entirely new kind of storytelling. From the first to the last line, this novel is nothing less than a masterpiece.--Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street
Her bold approach to storytelling peels back the layers of Victorian society, exposing its contradictions, power struggles, and hidden darkness. Through her unapologetic portrayal of a cold-blooded female psychopath, Feito questions whether societal pressures and repression can truly explain such violent behavior--or if, perhaps, the madness runs much deeper.--Eric Akoto "Litro Magazine"