WHAT DID MISS DARRINGTON SEE? An Anthology of Feminist Supernatural Fiction

by Jessica Amanda--Ed. Salmonson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1989

Two dozen tales, 1850-1988, offering supernatural variations by and about women who espouse a specifically feminist point of view: a refreshingly different approach, effective even when the ideas tend toward a certain sameness. Thus, several of the variations here--the older ones in particular--concern women visited by the apparitions of dying or recently departed Friends, relatives, or (female) lovers. In dramatic reversals, however, Vita Sackville-West and Joanna Russ turn this notion on its head: their protagonists are haunted, respectively, by daughters who have yet to be born, or by themselves as children. Other tales here retain strong female protagonists, and explore the themes of motherhood, universal suffrage, alienation, independence, and friendship through the techniques of magic realism, allegory, surrealism, and more conventional horror/terror/ghost motifs. Mostly solid and engrossing work. throwing useful illumination into various dark literary corners.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Feminist Press--dist. by Talman (150 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011)

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1989

Categories: FICTION