Where to find it: Wherever you normally get your books. It’s a bit new to easily find secondhand, but chains, local bookshops, and libraries are all good possibilities.
What is it, in summary?: A vampire novel with litfic sensibilities. Lyd is a mixed-race artist and vampire living on her own for the first time after sending her mother, a Malaysian-British vampire who has lost her sense of identity after losing the last of her teeth, to a care home. Woman, Eating follows Lyd as she adjusts to her new life, squatting in her studio space and interning at a gallery while struggling to source the blood she needs.
What do you love about it?: The way that it fits into and critiques the wider vampire canon in its handling of themes like illness, desire, and the other! I’m someone obsessed with the bit in Carmilla that’s all, “‘And this disease that invades the country is natural. Nature. All things proceed from Nature—don’t they? All things in the heaven, in the earth, and under the earth, act and live as Nature ordains?’”, and this book felt very much in conversation with those ideas.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I’m planning to request the main character, Lydia, and her childhood best friend Ye-Ye, whom she’s ghosted on her mother’s advice, and I’ll be into anything that further explores that relationship. Even though I really enjoyed the book overall, I have mixed feelings about the ending, so I’m especially likely to prompt for canon divergence. I’d also be really interested in Ye-Ye’s POV, since we spend so much time in Lyd’s head.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Not really. Though Ye-Ye is a fairly minor character, her appearances don’t easily work out of context. However, as a fairly short standalone novel, the whole canon is consumable within a few hours.
Content warnings: Colonial violence, disordered eating, racism, and sexual assault and harassment are fairly major themes. You can also expect the usual vampire stuff. Details are seldom graphic.
Woman, Eating - Claire Kohda
Media: Book
Approx length: 240 pages
Where to find it: Wherever you normally get your books. It’s a bit new to easily find secondhand, but chains, local bookshops, and libraries are all good possibilities.
What is it, in summary?: A vampire novel with litfic sensibilities. Lyd is a mixed-race artist and vampire living on her own for the first time after sending her mother, a Malaysian-British vampire who has lost her sense of identity after losing the last of her teeth, to a care home. Woman, Eating follows Lyd as she adjusts to her new life, squatting in her studio space and interning at a gallery while struggling to source the blood she needs.
What do you love about it?: The way that it fits into and critiques the wider vampire canon in its handling of themes like illness, desire, and the other! I’m someone obsessed with the bit in Carmilla that’s all, “‘And this disease that invades the country is natural. Nature. All things proceed from Nature—don’t they? All things in the heaven, in the earth, and under the earth, act and live as Nature ordains?’”, and this book felt very much in conversation with those ideas.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I’m planning to request the main character, Lydia, and her childhood best friend Ye-Ye, whom she’s ghosted on her mother’s advice, and I’ll be into anything that further explores that relationship. Even though I really enjoyed the book overall, I have mixed feelings about the ending, so I’m especially likely to prompt for canon divergence. I’d also be really interested in Ye-Ye’s POV, since we spend so much time in Lyd’s head.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Not really. Though Ye-Ye is a fairly minor character, her appearances don’t easily work out of context. However, as a fairly short standalone novel, the whole canon is consumable within a few hours.
Content warnings: Colonial violence, disordered eating, racism, and sexual assault and harassment are fairly major themes. You can also expect the usual vampire stuff. Details are seldom graphic.