V.I.L.E Readers of Violent Indefensible Lust and Evil

by Carole Lanham

Their next kiss was always a page away… Drawn into the dangerous world of banned books by a girl he’s not meant to have, a young servant's life begins to mimic the books he reads. Games of Great Expectation play out behind closed doors. Star-crossed lovers die poetic deaths. A vampire delivers a painful kiss.


Hadley and Lucinda are forced to hide their friendship under loose floorboards and in words written in maple syrup on dirty plates. Through their love affair with books, the pair sets out to create a place where the barriers between the social classes are vanquished with the turn of a page. A nominee on the preliminary ballot for a Bram Stoker Award, this critically acclaimed short story is the basis for the Amazon bestseller The Reading Lessons.


Pulitzer Prize nominated author Thomas Sullivan has said of Lanham's work: "The complexities of a Carole Lanham story get filtered and focused through simple perspectives, leaving you, the reader, the choice of just going with the flow or savoring the underlying depth as far as you dare descend. Exactly how she accomplishes this remains an enchantment of her art."

Nook

First published March 10, 2014

Reviews

[Robert Zimmermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Reviewed" in my A Storied Week post for week ten (http://alifeamongthepages.wordpress.c...).

[Tim Ouellette]

A unique approach, well done.

I wasn't at all sure what to expect when I began reading this short story. The author does a masterful job at introducing the reader to the young couples "club", combining passion and innocence in the twisted literary experiences the two characters are engaged in. This story could very stand as an introduction to a longer work of fiction.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this authors work.