On November 18, Victoria Lee revealed the cover to A Lesson In Vengeance via Tor. Her upcoming sapphic, dark academia horror novel has a Summer 2021 release!
The novel has been pitched as a “dark, twisty, atmospheric thriller about a boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past.”
Felicity Morrow returns to the Dalloway school, however she finds herself drawn to a new student by the name of Ellis Haley, a prodigy novelist. So, when Ellis asks for Felicity’s help in researching the history behind an intriguing group of students, Felicity will soon find herself digging up and facing a mysterious past.
Alongside the cover reveal was a Q&A where Lee discussed what she was bringing to dark academia as someone who has a Ph.D in dark academic literature, the importance of navigating Queer sexuality, and even writing her main female characters who are “selfish and shortsighted and obsessive and sometimes callous.”
Cover artist is Maggie Enterrios and designer is Regina Flath.
Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School.
Perched in the Catskill mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she’s returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students—girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds.
Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s history. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget.
It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway, and she’s already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is a so-called “method writer.” She’s eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. Given her history with the arcane, Felicity is the perfect resource.
And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway–and in herself.
A Lesson In Vengeance by Victoria Lee is set to be released on August 3, 2021!
The Booked Shelf 