Episode 7.5: ‘An Education in Malice’ by ST Gibson
‘A Dowry of Blood’ was a favourite of Sophie’s from last year so as soon as we saw that her next book was promised as dark academia, we knew we had to read it for ‘The Dark Academicals’.
Taking inspiration from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s ‘Carmilla’ - a queer-leaning vampire story that pre-dates ‘Dracula’ - and the promise of poetry professors, an ancient college, and rivalries, it could be the perfect dark academia read.
Love is sacrifice. One of us was always going to bleed for the other.
Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua's College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.
On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.
But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and dark magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.
Sumptuous and addictive, An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hungers from Sunday Times bestselling author S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood.
This sounds like it’s going to put the dark in dark academia - we cannot wait to get stuck in.
In this episode we discuss:
Vampirism and the sapphic
The importance of place and time
Dark Academia and the Gothic
You can listen to it here:
TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘An Education in Malice’ by ST Gibson
‘A Dowry of Blood’
‘Carmilla’ by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker
‘Interview with the Vampire’ by Anne Rice
‘Assistant to the Villain’ by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
‘Prep’ by Curtis Sittenfeld
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Noir
‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ (2001)
If you fancy taking a chance on ‘An Education in Malice’, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
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