Status Updates From The Statement of Stella Mab...

‘I forced myself to lift my reluctant eyes to the lovely, scornful face that was looking down upon me—& then—God help me—I understood at last, & shrieked in an agony of despair & horror. For in that awful moment I knew it was not Evelyn’s stainless soul that was gazing at me now through her eyes, but some evil mocking spirit.’ ….Well, this shifted gears in a hurry. 😈

What’s truly terrifying about this is Stella’s bloated sense of superiority & contortions of self-pity. (No, literally. Her supposed closest friend in the world is lying dead & all Stella thinks is “oh noes, she never sent that letter to correct my own stupidity from last night when I screamed at the man I loved to leave me alone because I hated him!” while writhing in an agony of put-upon woes. 🙄)

This narrator is really self-centered with delusions of grandeur & I want to punch her in the face. But I guess that’s the point of her telling the tale. 🫢

Actual novella length: 106 pgs, plus intro essay (which I always read last in scholarly editions; those things are spoiler central).