The Dark Depths... Plus-1

Two books of retro female-led misadventure, influenced by the exotic writings of terror, the occult, and human bondage of the early 20th Century, open with Sandrine Bessancort's "The Subjugation of Thomas Tallis". Read on, as a vengeful young Indian woman at the time of the Raj seeks retribution for the ills visited upon her people. No matter they took place well over a century earlier. Reincarnated in modern form, it make no difference to her that the Londoner and modern incarnation of the man she cursed in the past, and whose life she is intent upon owning and ruining by way of punishment for the sins of his forebear, is blameless and ignorant of these past injustices.
Ignorance and innocence that will not spare him either her anger or her sexual perversity. The second of our misadventures is "The Dark Depths", Rafael Menton's tale set in the late-fifties in which a young and academically gifted undergrad; a learned ex-cop; and a Japanese heiress all have one thing in common: a recently unearthed and much in demand - fatally so - tome called the "Book of Witches".
A book with a previously undeciphered incantation that could mean tyranny, suppression, and a complete and, if it is invoked, utter loss of independence. Especially for men. Believable female-led fantasy fiction for those readers who prefer to use the darker sides of their imaginations with the help of character-driven plotlines. Sandrine Bessancort is the author of "Luella Miller Revisited" and "The Servant", as well as growing catalogue of retro and female-led titles; while Rafael Menton is best known for his fictional study of voodoo and human bondage, "Madame Fabienne".