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The Bloody Chamber, Wise Children, Fireworks: Introduction by Joan Acocella
An omnibus of works by the great British writer that showcases her hauntingly erotic fabulism and the subversive richness of her imagination.
In The Bloody Chamber , Angela Carter's famous collection of deeply unsettling stories inspired by fairy tales, we see a Beauty who turns into a Beast, Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother stoned as a werewolf, and Bluebeard as a murderous, porn-addicted businessman. In the surreally delightful novel Wise Children , an elderly woman recounts the colorful life she and her identical twin sister led as vaudeville performers. And the early story collection Fireworks reveals Carter taking her first forays into the fantastical writing that was to become her unforgettable legacy. As critic Laura Miller has argued, "Most contemporary literary fiction with a touch of magic owes something to Angela Carter's trailblazing." This Everyman's Library omnibus gathers the best of Angela Carter in one astonishing volume.
In The Bloody Chamber , Angela Carter's famous collection of deeply unsettling stories inspired by fairy tales, we see a Beauty who turns into a Beast, Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother stoned as a werewolf, and Bluebeard as a murderous, porn-addicted businessman. In the surreally delightful novel Wise Children , an elderly woman recounts the colorful life she and her identical twin sister led as vaudeville performers. And the early story collection Fireworks reveals Carter taking her first forays into the fantastical writing that was to become her unforgettable legacy. As critic Laura Miller has argued, "Most contemporary literary fiction with a touch of magic owes something to Angela Carter's trailblazing." This Everyman's Library omnibus gathers the best of Angela Carter in one astonishing volume.
504 pages, Hardcover
Published April 10, 2018
About the author
Angela Carter
212 books3,859 followersBorn Angela Olive Stalker in Eastbourne, in 1940, Carter was evacuated as a child to live in Yorkshire with her maternal grandmother. As a teenager she battled anorexia. She began work as a journalist on the Croydon Advertiser, following in the footsteps of her father. Carter attended the University of Bristol where she studied English literature.
She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter. They divorced after twelve years. In 1969 Angela Carter used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, Japan, where she claims in Nothing Sacred (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a woman and became radicalised." She wrote about her experiences there in articles for New Society and a collection of short stories, Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces (1974), and evidence of her experiences in Japan can also be seen in The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (1972). She was there at the same time as Roland Barthes, who published his experiences in Empire of Signs (1970).
She then explored the United States, Asia, and Europe, helped by her fluency in French and German. She spent much of the late 1970s and 1980s as a writer in residence at universities, including the University of Sheffield, Brown University, the University of Adelaide, and the University of East Anglia. In 1977 Carter married Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son.
As well as being a prolific writer of fiction, Carter contributed many articles to The Guardian, The Independent and New Statesman, collected in Shaking a Leg. She adapted a number of her short stories for radio and wrote two original radio dramas on Richard Dadd and Ronald Firbank. Two of her fictions have been adapted for the silver screen: The Company of Wolves (1984) and The Magic Toyshop (1987). She was actively involved in both film adaptations, her screenplays are published in the collected dramatic writings, The Curious Room, together with her radio scripts, a libretto for an opera of Virginia Wolf's Orlando, an unproduced screenplay entitled The Christchurch Murders (based on the same true story as Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures) and other works. These neglected works, as well as her controversial television documentary, The Holy Family Album, are discussed in Charlotte Crofts' book, Anagrams of Desire (2003).
At the time of her death, Carter was embarking on a sequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre based on the later life of Jane's stepdaughter, Adèle Varens. However, only a synopsis survives.
Her novel Nights at the Circus won the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for literature.
Angela Carter died aged 51 in 1992 at her home in London after developing lung cancer. Her obituary published in The Observer said, "She was the opposite of parochial. Nothing, for her, was outside the pale: she wanted to know about everything and everyone, and every place and every word. She relished life and language hugely, and reveled in the diverse."
She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter. They divorced after twelve years. In 1969 Angela Carter used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, Japan, where she claims in Nothing Sacred (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a woman and became radicalised." She wrote about her experiences there in articles for New Society and a collection of short stories, Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces (1974), and evidence of her experiences in Japan can also be seen in The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (1972). She was there at the same time as Roland Barthes, who published his experiences in Empire of Signs (1970).
She then explored the United States, Asia, and Europe, helped by her fluency in French and German. She spent much of the late 1970s and 1980s as a writer in residence at universities, including the University of Sheffield, Brown University, the University of Adelaide, and the University of East Anglia. In 1977 Carter married Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son.
As well as being a prolific writer of fiction, Carter contributed many articles to The Guardian, The Independent and New Statesman, collected in Shaking a Leg. She adapted a number of her short stories for radio and wrote two original radio dramas on Richard Dadd and Ronald Firbank. Two of her fictions have been adapted for the silver screen: The Company of Wolves (1984) and The Magic Toyshop (1987). She was actively involved in both film adaptations, her screenplays are published in the collected dramatic writings, The Curious Room, together with her radio scripts, a libretto for an opera of Virginia Wolf's Orlando, an unproduced screenplay entitled The Christchurch Murders (based on the same true story as Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures) and other works. These neglected works, as well as her controversial television documentary, The Holy Family Album, are discussed in Charlotte Crofts' book, Anagrams of Desire (2003).
At the time of her death, Carter was embarking on a sequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre based on the later life of Jane's stepdaughter, Adèle Varens. However, only a synopsis survives.
Her novel Nights at the Circus won the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for literature.
Angela Carter died aged 51 in 1992 at her home in London after developing lung cancer. Her obituary published in The Observer said, "She was the opposite of parochial. Nothing, for her, was outside the pale: she wanted to know about everything and everyone, and every place and every word. She relished life and language hugely, and reveled in the diverse."
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 6, 2023
I knew nothing about Angela Carter before reading this. I like that I had no expectations and was able to feel the full force and shock of her unique voice. Carter's prose is wonderful, "The bell clanged; the straining train leapt its leash and left us at that lonely wayside halt where only he and I had descended." Her bold recolouring of well-worn fairy tales reverberates through the reader and through so much of the literature that came after. All of this being said, however, I struggled to sink into her stories, especially read straight through over consecutive days. They became wearisome. I recommend reading one or two here and there in order fully enjoy them.
The novel included in this Everyman's Library edition, Wise Children, was a lot of fun, but also difficult to emotionally invest in. Here's a taste of what is special about it, though:
Even though I wasn't thrilled by this, I fully appreciate Angela Carter's important literary influence. I may revisit her short stories in smaller bursts in the future.
The novel included in this Everyman's Library edition, Wise Children, was a lot of fun, but also difficult to emotionally invest in. Here's a taste of what is special about it, though:
"Our fingernails match our toenails match our lipstick match our rouge. Revlon, Fire and Ice. The habit of applying warpaint outlasts the battle; haven't had a man for yonks but still we slap it on. Nobody could say the Chance girls were going gently into that good night."
Even though I wasn't thrilled by this, I fully appreciate Angela Carter's important literary influence. I may revisit her short stories in smaller bursts in the future.
March 3, 2020
I’ve never been more impressed then disappointed in a book than this. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories is great, particularly the titular Bloody Chamber and The Lady of the House of Love. The rest had such lush imagery that even when I wasn’t all that gripped by the story itself I still enjoyed how it was written. If this book only contained The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories I would have given it a 4/5. However, there are two other books here: Wise Children and Fireworks.
Wise Children waffled between being extremely wild and incredibly dull. It has a large cast which makes it very hard to keep track of the characters and honestly I would struggle to define the characters with any more words than written in the the Dramatis Personae page. Moreover I didn’t even realise that apparently one of the character was having an affair with someone he thought was his half-sister. And then at the end Nora out of nowhere sleeps with her /father/. I get that it’s not her biological father but her raised her and then suddenly they’re fucking so fast and the chandelier shakes. It comes right out of nowhere and is just plain creepy.
Fireworks manages to be even more boring with a dash of orientalism. The way she describes her Japanese lover is like she’s downplaying his masculinity because of his race and her descriptions her relationship to him reads like parody with the “okusan means woman in the inner room and that’s how I was a woman in the inner room not meant to be seen” type of descriptions. Then doing the age-old mistake of conflating geisha with sex workers. Not to mention the seductive blood-sucking underage prostitute puppet that comes to life, named for Murasaki Shikibu, who was not, in fact, a prostitute. Not to mention the rest of the boring stories and seriously What is up with Carter and all that incest???
Wise Children waffled between being extremely wild and incredibly dull. It has a large cast which makes it very hard to keep track of the characters and honestly I would struggle to define the characters with any more words than written in the the Dramatis Personae page. Moreover I didn’t even realise that apparently one of the character was having an affair with someone he thought was his half-sister. And then at the end Nora out of nowhere sleeps with her /father/. I get that it’s not her biological father but her raised her and then suddenly they’re fucking so fast and the chandelier shakes. It comes right out of nowhere and is just plain creepy.
Fireworks manages to be even more boring with a dash of orientalism. The way she describes her Japanese lover is like she’s downplaying his masculinity because of his race and her descriptions her relationship to him reads like parody with the “okusan means woman in the inner room and that’s how I was a woman in the inner room not meant to be seen” type of descriptions. Then doing the age-old mistake of conflating geisha with sex workers. Not to mention the seductive blood-sucking underage prostitute puppet that comes to life, named for Murasaki Shikibu, who was not, in fact, a prostitute. Not to mention the rest of the boring stories and seriously What is up with Carter and all that incest???
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2018
This is supposed to be the Everyman's Library edition, with three of her books. Carter was an magical person. She uncovered the truth behind fairy tales. She invented new fairy tales and other fantastic menageries. I hope Everyman's Library publishes her other books as well, and any time soon, 'cause I want a compleat Carter in my bookcase, in uniform edition. Please?
November 19, 2018
I found the second, longer story Wise Children a little slow going, otherwise I would have given this anthology a rare 5 stars.
The Bloody Chamber is a fascinating collection of fairy stories seen through the reflection of a distorted mirror; everything seems familiar but, somehow, is out of kilter. Very much a retelling for a more adult, thoughtful audience.
The Bloody Chamber is a fascinating collection of fairy stories seen through the reflection of a distorted mirror; everything seems familiar but, somehow, is out of kilter. Very much a retelling for a more adult, thoughtful audience.
October 14, 2023
Rating is for The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories only
The Bloody Chamber: 2 stars
The Courtship of Mr Lyon: 2 stars
The Tiger's Bride: 1 star
Puss-in-Boots: 3 stars
The Erl-King: 2 stars
The Snow Child: 2 stars
The Lady of the House of Love: Skipped
The Werewolf: 2 stars
The Company of Wolves: Skipped
Wolf-Alice: 3 stars
The Bloody Chamber: 2 stars
The Courtship of Mr Lyon: 2 stars
The Tiger's Bride: 1 star
Puss-in-Boots: 3 stars
The Erl-King: 2 stars
The Snow Child: 2 stars
The Lady of the House of Love: Skipped
The Werewolf: 2 stars
The Company of Wolves: Skipped
Wolf-Alice: 3 stars
July 27, 2021
The Bloody Chamber was interesting, but the other stories lagged. Carter's perspective is interesting and I especially love her vivid language, but it tended to veer towards the realm of needless raunchiness and violence, which I don't enjoy.
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December 27, 2020I read "The Bloody Chamber" and a few of the fairy tale rewrites, but that was enough for me. The one based on Puss in Boots was cute.
February 4, 2021
Really enjoyed it, studying it for my NEA
July 19, 2022
3.5 ★
Wise Children is amazing!
Personally, I think the other two are good but not great.
Wise Children is amazing!
Personally, I think the other two are good but not great.
June 30, 2025
interesting.....
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews