"HALF WOMAN, HALF CAT"

VENGEANCE OF THE CAT GODDESS

By Jennifer Stephens [Kathleen Jenks]

(1973)

First printing of the most adorable of all the Avon Satanic Gothics.

Very good plus.

Price: $200.00

VENGEANCE OF THE CAT GODDESS

"You're beautiful," he whispered, running one hand through my cornsilk hair, "like Abigail—that is why the goddess chose both of you as her minions beyond death!"

A neurotic novelist-in-mourning, too delicate for a soul-crushing 9-5, finds herself in a Situation caring for seven sacred Egyptian cats in a Victorian mansion off the coast of Maine in this exquisitely wish-fulfilling entry into Avon's highly collectible, now rare, "Satanic Gothic" line. The "Satanic" in Satanic Gothic was more of a guideline than a rule rigidly adhered to, but Avon's specialty Baphomet-headed logo reliably indicated some manner of occult menace above and beyond the simple earthly murder-husbands sufficient unto the gothic needs of a gentler era. In the case of VENGEANCE OF THE CAT GODDESS, that menace comes from the threat of human sacrifice to the ancient gods: a lesson to all readers who don't already know that the perfect house-sitting situation is always too good to be true. "Jennifer Stephens" was a pseudonym of Kathleen Jenks, who put her Ph.D. in Religious Studies to good use in various teaching and research endeavors but never to greater effect than here. In the author's own words: "I decided to spin-off my Egyptian research into a novel that might bring in some extra money. I wrote it in ten days with Chopin playing non-stop to keep me in an eerie, 'gothic' mood. It was exhausting but also very satisfying." A jewel.

Read more: Jenks, "How this book came to be written" (Amazon review).

The Object

First edition. (New York): Avon, (1973). 7'' x 4''. Original pictorial wrappers. All edges tinted red. 160 pages. Toning to spine and rear cover; spine creased with a slight lean.

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