Victorian Psycho
A Novel
by Virginia Feito
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Pub Date Feb 04 2025 | Archive Date Jan 31 2025
W. W. Norton & Company | Liveright
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Description
From the devious author of Mrs. March comes a gruesome and gleeful new novel that probes the psyche of a bloodthirsty governess.
Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect Victorian governess—she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But the longer Winifred spends within the estate’s dreary confines, and the more she learns of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family, the more trouble she has sticking to her plan. Whether creeping across the moonlit lawns in her undergarments or gently tormenting the house staff, Winifred struggles at every turn to stifle the horrid compulsions of her past. When her chillingly dark imagination breaches the feeble boundary of reality on Christmas morning, Winifred is finally ready to deliver on her generous gifts. Wielding her signature sardonic wit and a penchant for the gorgeously macabre, Virginia Feito returns with a vengeance in Victorian Psycho.
Available Editions
EDITION | Hardcover |
ISBN | 9781631498633 |
PRICE | $24.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 208 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Did I mention she’s psycho? Because Victorian Psycho is not your ordinary governess tale! Virginia Feito whisks readers into the delightfully twisted world of Winifred Notty, who arrives at Ensor House with the best of intentions—or at least, she tries. A little dark humor here, a joke about eating children there—standard governess stuff, right? But oh, Winifred is much more than meets the eye.
She’s equal parts charming and deranged, a walking paradox who alternates between tutoring the unsuspecting Drusilla and Andrew and creeping across the moonlit grounds in her undergarments, indulging her more "eccentric" urges. The Pounds family? Let’s just say their moral compass is as broken as the fine china they sip tea from, which only encourages Winifred’s more... ahem... psycho tendencies.
Feito paints Winifred in such gloriously macabre colors that you’ll be laughing one moment and gasping the next, wondering just how far our beloved governess will go. The suspense builds until Christmas morning, when Winifred finally gives the most "generous" gifts imaginable. Spoiler: they’re not wrapped in pretty paper, but they will leave a mark.
With a perfect blend of horror, humor, and psychotic charm, Feito crafts a darkly whimsical tale that’ll leave you both horrified and delighted. If you're a fan of twisted, eerie fun, Victorian Psycho is your next obsession. And yes, she’s definitely psycho.
Virginia Feito’s Victorian Psycho is an exquisitely dark and twisted narrative that delves deep into the mind of a bloodthirsty governess. When Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House, what starts as a typical Victorian setting quickly morphs into a chilling and gripping tale, thanks to Feito’s sharp, sardonic wit.
Winifred is a captivating character—grotesque yet oddly charming—as she maneuvers through the morally corrupt Pounds family. Feito masterfully balances horror and humor, crafting a surreal atmosphere that’s both disturbing and utterly entertaining.
The book is packed with unexpected twists, featuring moments so deliciously macabre that they’ll leave readers both horrified and chuckling. If you’re a fan of darkly whimsical tales, this one is a must-read! 💀
This book is a book that I will pre-order!!
I can't begin to tell you how much I loved this book.
This book was a complete fever dream. The main character, whilst completely demented and out of her mind, was a complete and utter delight and I found myself rooting for her the entre time. The other characters--aside from Drusilla--were not very likable, but that just made the main character's antics a lot more fun and deserved.
The writing was really good and I found the story to be immersive. So much so that I read this book in one sitting, unable to put it down. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a delightful, wicked and strange time. This is definitely one that will be going on my bookshelf.
Victorian Psycho is a darkly funny, gothic version of American Psycho.
The story’s unreliable narrator, Winifred, gets hired as a governess for the Pounds family shortly before Christmas. On the surface everything seems to be going well, but as you read more of Winifred’s internal dialogue, you quickly learn that’s not the case.
The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous; it’s cold, bleak, and creepy. Everything is captured perfectly that it almost felt like Ensor House was real.
I was completely engrossed in the story just because Winifred is such an interesting character. I wanted to see what she would do next. I loved how she would keep you in the dark for a bit, and I enjoyed the flashbacks to her childhood.
Victorian Psycho comes out in February and if you love Jane Eyre as much as I do, you’re going to love this! A big thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the copy!
This is deliciously wicked, enjoyably depraved. Virginia Feito’s writing is so perfect for this story she’s created. I love the evocative way she describes not only the setting, but our main character and all of the side characters who cross her path. Everyone is a kind of villain in this, and this is the kind of unlikeable narrator I could read over and over. I loved Virginia’s use of the victorian time period to make everything feel dirtier, grittier, grosser. I loved being in the head of Winifred, our heroine who is also definitely a psycho and so much fun to read about. I was a huge fan of Mrs. March and Feito’s arsenic-laced prose, so I am not surprised at all that I loved this novel.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!
This is for those of us who love stories about unhinged women snapping as violently as possible!! With a Victoriana setting, we follow a governess who doesn't particularly like the family she works for... or children in general. To be fair though, Winifred Notty finds most things unsatisfactory, as evident from her first appearance on the page. She's intentionally misanthropic and odd, intended to be so unlikable that she's almost endearing.
This story has no issue poking fun at the grotesque and paradoxical facets of high society life and the depravities of the wealthy. Easily bored and with a mind prone to fits of violent fancy, Winifred finds her own ways to occupy herself. Madness is less a crux or fear than an old friend, biding it's time waiting for a moment to encourage embracing her inner darkness.
Tonally this story fits somewhere between <i>American Psycho</i> and an adult version of <i>A Series of Unfortunate Events</i>. I had a positively delightful time develing into the marrow of Winifred Notty's psyche. Wry and matter-of-fact, Winifred has no issue detailing the specifics of her eccentricities and distaste for others. The occassional breaking of the fourth wall didn't feel disjointed, but rather like a friend winking and offering a humorous aside.
This is a grisly tale full of violence, bloodshed, inequality and cruelty. A wild ride from start to end!!
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