#883 Bride- Julia Elliott
This story is the first Elliott story that I read outside of
her The Wilds collection. As always she is inventive, original and utterly
unpredictable. Always with a touch of goth, this takes place in an abbey during the
great plague. Wilda is a young nun trying desperately to stay chaste and Godly.
Using extreme self-flagellation, she takes pleasure in punishing herself,
believing this form of worship will lead to transformation to the holy.
“She chastises the filthy maggot of her carnality until she
feels fire crackling up her backbone. Her head explodes with light. Her soul
rejoices like a bird flitting from a dark hut, out into summer air.”
The plague has hit hard, and as the abbey loses nun after
nun, fear leads to a breakdown of daily hours and responsibilities. Wilda and
another nun develop a loving relationship, sharing a last meal before Wilda’s
final transformation is set.
“Wilda has the strange feeling that everyone in the world is
dead. That she and Aoife are completely alone in an enchanted castle. That they
are just on the verge of some miraculous transformation.”
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