Published in The Reading Room / Written By Caviar & Co.
On a quiet Marylebone morning, we stepped into Daunt Books — not so much a shop as it is a shrine. The old Edwardian oak shelves stretch skyward, lit by the kind of glass-ceiling light that turns paper golden. Originally founded in 1912, the space was built for travel literature, but today, Daunt is a haven for everything from modern classics to obscure titles you’d never find anywhere else — the kind of place where hours vanish. You leave with something you didn’t expect.
This time, we were searching for something different. Not just escapism — but excavation. Books that aren’t afraid of the dark, or of the women who live there. We found ourselves drawn to a particular section: shelves that whispered of gothic heroines, literary rage, femininity wrapped in shadow. These were not stories of ease. They were about defiance, obsession, transformation — novels that bite back.
Featured Reading List
These aren’t easy reads — but they’re the kind that stay with you. They ask for patience, participation, and sometimes surrender. But for those in search of stories with claws, with quiet rebellion, with women who refuse to be sweetened — these are the pages we keep returning to.
1. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
A seminal collection of feminist reimaginings of classic fairy tales — lush, violent, seductive. Carter gives teeth back to women who were once passive figures. These stories don’t flinch, and they don’t comfort.
“I remember how that night I lay awake in the wagon-lit in a tender, delicious ecstasy of excitement...”
2. Bunny by Mona Awad
A surreal, literary fever dream set in an elite MFA writing program. Bunny is strange, hilarious, disturbing, and wildly feminine in a feral way. A cult-favourite for readers who love their fiction messy and mythic.
“They grab me with their eyes, then their voices. I am the baby deer. They are the wolves.”
3. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
A novel about a woman who decides to check out of life by sleeping for an entire year. Unapologetically passive, jaded, numb — and somehow, deeply compelling. A razor-sharp commentary on grief, beauty, and the quiet violence of withdrawal.
“Sleep felt productive. Something was getting sorted out. I knew in my heart — this was the point of life.”
4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
A classic, yes, but still relevant. The nameless narrator, the gothic mansion, the looming presence of the first wife. This book simmers with psychological tension, dread, and femininity lost in someone else’s shadow.
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”
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From literary shadows to cinematic monsters — stay with us. In our Profile segment, we take a closer look at visionary director Guillermo del Toro and his enduring fascination with myth, memory, and monsters in Behind the Vision: Guillermo del Toro’s Take on a Classic.
