Customer Reviews

Louisa the Poisoner

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Tanith Lee never ceases to amaze me. She has had a very long career, and her writing not only continues to be fresh and compelling in fantasy (probably her "clan terrtitory'), but to conquer other genres handily. "Louisa the Poisoner" is both a fantasy and a twist on a type of Victorian romance. This is a short novel, but with a satisfyingly rich plot and palette of (mostly unpleasant) characters. It is wickedly, sardonically funny, something Lee does particularly well. Its "moral" is, to say the least, unconventional, but, I think, quite apt. A very fine, short read!

The thing that keeps me coming back to Tanith Lee's writing, again and again, is the beautiful fairy-tale prose she expertly uses to weave her story. And this story does read like a fairytale, although a dark, morbid one. The story hooked me immediately and carried me along, despite the amoral nature of the protagonist and her strangely beautiful malevolence.

Although Lee's prose is beautiful, formal, and elegant, it is not stiff. She describes effortlessly the nature and personalities of the widely varying characters, and illustrates emotion readily. The sheer loveliness of the descriptions of Louisa herself, of the clothes she wears, the setting into which she is placed, the workings of her mind, very much enchanted me.

This was very much a pleasure to read, and I think I'll go shop for more of Lee's work now. I just can't get enough of her writing.

Reading this book makes one feel like Tanith Lee is taking a break from trying new things. This is a quintessential Tanith Lee book complete with morally ambiguous/repulsive heroine and a cast of despotic fools that play victim to her machinations. The progress of the book consists of Lee's heroine wheedling her way into the bosom of a gothic family standard and killing them one by one.

Not much else happens. There's a prosecutor that shows up late in the narrative to provide some tension, but that's about it. It's always great to read Tanith Lee whose prose is second to none, but this book is just nothing new.

Nice pictures, though.