The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

Angela Carter (1950-1992) was a prolific and outspoken feminist novelist, short story writer, journalist, playwright, and poet. In 2008, The Times ranked Carter as number 10 in their list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945.” Although her most renowned work by far is The Bloody Chamber, she also authored several novels, poetry collections, and radio plays (including adaptations of stories from The Bloody Chamber).

In the 1960s through ’80s, the time when Carter was writing most prolifically, female writers were a minority, and few were tackling the sort of contentious subject matter that Carter was offering up with unabashed directness. The Bloody Chamber allows women to be both sensual and sexual, beautiful and grotesque, messy with humanity even when they don’t strictly fit into a human mold. Moreover, Carter takes stories and motifs that are inherently familiar—most of her contemporary readers would have known the stories of Beauty and the Beast or Red Riding Hood—and examines them in fresh and unexpected ways. English author Jeanette Winterson says that “What Angela Carter did with fairy tales was take the stories that we all know and turn them inside out. Take the components that were familiar and make them into something that gave women back the power” (“Radical Writing: Was Angela Carter Ahead of Her Time?” BBC, 1 Aug. 2018). This approach went on to inspire a generation of authors including Winterson, as well as Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Anne Enright, and countless others.

Now, Angela Carter is celebrated with a range of documentaries and biographical materials, stage adaptations of her work, and university-level courses that explore her prevailing influence. Her work continues to reach and inspire new generations of readers, with her voice still resonating in fantasy and feminist literature, art, and music today.