“Hungerstone” is a delightful reimagining of a classic story written in the 1800s about vampires and gothic Victorian England. The protagonist, Lenore, is a woman who has embraced permanent unhappiness with a quiet and temperate spirit. While she knows her own intelligence, she has learned helplessness from the consistent lack of attunement provided by every person who is important to her. It is only when her worth is validated that she can begin to see the world differently, the source of which, the mysterious Carmilla, teaches her to reconnect with her core self and finally acknowledge that she has desires. What drew me to the story was the portrait it painted of complex trauma and the way long-term suppression disconnects the mind from the body. The book accurately writes the wish-fulfillment of someone finally seeing your value after feeling worthless for a significant period of time.
