ST Gibson’s novel, An Education In Malice is marketed as a retelling of Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu – which is often understood to be the first vampire novel. Full disclosure: Iāve never read Carmilla. I just wanted to get that out in the open before we get to the meat of this post.
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Summery
An Education In Malice is set at an all-womenās college in Massachusetts called Saint Perpetua’s. Gibsonās book switches perspectives between Laura and Carmilla.
Laura arrives at Saint Perpetua’s College to study poetry under a professor called De Lafontaine. Laura quickly meets Carmilla, a senior and De Lafontaineās star student. The two quickly become academic rivalsā¦and eventually become lovers. We also learn pretty early on that De Lafontaine is a vampire and has been using Carmilla as a blood source.
An Education In Malice is broken up into three acts. Act one deals with Lauraās arrival and the rivalry between Laura and Carmilla. The second act deals with the budding romantic relationship between Laura and Carmilla. In the third and final act, we are introduced to a villain of sorts that the characters have to face.
Gibsonās book is sapphic and contains elements of horror and dark academia.
Thoughts
Set in the 1960s
I first discovered An Education in Malice from the YouTube channel Willow Talks Books. In her review, Willow mentioned that it bugged her that Gibsonās book is set in the 1960s for no real reason.
What struck me about An Education in Malice being set in the 1960s was that there were opportunities to acknowledge some things that were going on during that period that Gibson chose not to mention. Laura grew up in the American South in the 1950s and ā60s – and probably would have had some first-hand experience with racial segregation. When Laura arrived at Saint Perpetua’s College, she quickly made friends with a Black classmate. Iām not saying that Gibson needed to write Laura as a racist who supported segregation, but it would have been interesting to examine how this background may have influenced Lauraās experiences with Black classmates.
Religion
I was also confused by Lauraās religious background. Early on, I thought she mentioned that she was some flavor of Protestant – or at least, I thought she was interested in becoming a Pastor of some sort. As far as I know, a woman canāt be a Catholic Priest, but at least some Protestant denominations will allow women to be the equivalent. Later in An Education In Malice, however, Laura went to confession – something I associate with Catholicism.
How did she do it?
Another plot element of An Education of Malice that confused me was how De Lafontaine was able to get away with what she was able to get away with. How does a professor who doesnāt have tenure manage to negotiate only holding classes in the evening? Iām not an expert in how faculties are generally structured in American colleges and universities, but I was under the impression that the only time you might be able to pick and choose when you hold your classes is if youāre tenured. I might be wrong. Additionally, how is De Lafontaine able to get away with making excuses for why certain students never attend other classes? I canāt imagine that working, especially at the college/university level.
The villain
Going back to Willowās review of An Education In Malice, one of the things I agree with her about is that we donāt get to spend nearly enough time with the villain. We donāt get a chance to understand who the villain is or what their motives are from their perspective. Most of what we know about the villain comes from what a different character tells us. And I spent a good chunk of time wondering if the character telling us about the villainās motives was all that reliable. I think Gibsonās book could have stood to be a bit longer just to explore that.
It may sound like I disliked An Education in Malice. The truth is that I enjoyed Gibsonās book overall and Iām glad I read it.
You Might Like An Education in Malice Ifā¦
- You like sapphic romances.
- The enemies-to-lovers trope is your jam.
- Dark academia or horror are things you enjoy reading.
- You think vampires are sexy.
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This post may contain affiliate links, which means Iāll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please readĀ full disclosureĀ for more information.
Where to buy An Education in Malice
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