The title of Virginia Feito’s second novel calls to mind Bret Easton Ellis’ ‘American Psycho’ and, rather like Easton Ellis’s blackest of satires, it also features a protagonist who can’t help but see the world through a mirror that has been warped by all manner of grotesque occurrences – real or otherwise. We’re in England, midway through the 19th century. Winifred Notty has a past, and it soon becomes apparent – to the reader at least – that much of it is bloody. She arrives at Ensor House in order to take up a new position as governess to two children: Drusilla – a sulky adolescent who already has ideas on who she wants to marry, and Andrew, a pompous boy given to lording it over Winifred. Drusilla and Andrew are the children of Mr Pound (who takes something of a shine to Winifred) and Mrs Pound (who does not). The novel can be seen as something of revenge fantasy, with the targets being patriarchal society (“‘Any man would be fortunate to count you among his possessions,’ I proclaim”) and the class system, but this is never overdone. Elevating proceedings is Winifred’s singular voice, which is drolly funny throughout (“At eight thirty sharp breakfast is removed, as is my will to live”), and her unruly agency, which is absolutely magnificent to behold. It’s a beautifully paced novel too, the heat of the narrative gradually stoking up until everything explodes into the kind of grand guignol denouncement that is both shocking but earned. RM

Published by 

4th Estate