Christabel

In this novel-length adaptation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s classic narrative and Gothic ballad, reset to the year 1882, John Vance depicts the trials of seventeen-year-old Christabel, who, following the tragic death of her mother and her own near violation, is taken from her home in London to Twinehurst, an isolated manor house in the country. There she comes upon an alluring woman named Geraldine, who seeks refuge at the manor house. Who is this beautiful and beguiling lady? What powers does this woman possess and what dangers does she pose? With the qualities of the supernatural, the horrific, and the mysterious, the novel also comments on the plight of young women in Victorian society and emphasizes the potency and influence of literature itself.


Genre: Literary Fiction