How long does it take to read The Blood Serpent?
The Blood Serpent by Thomas Vancura takes about 17 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 17 minutes
An evening's read
First published 2021. 15 pages, about 4,125 words.
1 day at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 28 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 17 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 10 minutes |
The page count is the median across 1 edition, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
In “The Blood Serpent”, three young women—Adeline, Juliette, and Charlotte—navigate a world of cruelty and repression in 19th-century Paris. Adeline, the abused daughter of a morally bankrupt magistrate, Juliette, a sharp-witted scholar, and Charlotte, a timid soul tormented by her mother’s atrocities, bond over their shared homosexuality and defiance of societal norms. Their fragile camaraderie culminates in a nightmarish trap at the Villemarette Suites, where they are imprisoned in a sealed dining chamber by forces tied to Adeline’s father. Stripped of hope, the trio confronts their grim fate through philosophical discourse, a symbolic same-sex marriage, and ultimately, mutual suicide. The aftermath leaves investigators baffled, with no clear perpetrator, underscoring the systemic oppression that doomed the women. A harrowing tale of trauma, rebellion, and tragic solidarity. --- “The Blood Serpent” © 2021 by Thomas Vancura is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
Subjects: literary fiction, gothic, psychological horror, LGBTQ short stories, LGBTQ historical fiction, psychological thriller
