It’s hard not to become desensitized to the many stories we read about violence against women. You see the headlines, you read the horrible details, you tut tut at the awfulness of it all and you go on about your day trying to forget that global statistics report one in three women will be subjected to violence in their lifetime. But every now and then you read one news report you can’t scan over, one that is able to break through your well-worn defence barriers and make you want to scream about the brutal unfairness of it all.
I’m English and live in London. For me, and many of my friends, that one victim was Sarah Everard. Reading about her murder, at the hands of an off-duty police officer as she walked home one night, hit us all hard – not least because Sarah did everything right, everything us women have been taught on how to be safe. She went home at a reasonable hour, walked only along well-lit streets, and rang her boyfriend to check in. Sarah did everything right, but because her killer showed her his badge, Sarah let him handcuff her and she willingly got into his car. She didn’t have a chance.
I still had Sarah in mind when it came to writing my latest novel ‘A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage’. I realised I had become so sickened by reading news stories about dead women I didn’t want to write about any either. Instead, my married protagonists would go out and hunt down only bad men who deserved to die. These vigilante serial killers, who I named Haze and Fox, would be ‘good’ killers with Haze being the embodiment of female rage if given a knife and the opportunity. Haze’s brand of feminism might be a little more niche, but she was doing what she could to make the world a safer place. ‘While there were women out there in public, demonstrating and shouting #metoo, I was hiding in the shadows, killing and whispering #youtoo.’ Whereas Fox as her husband and killing partner, would be the ultimate ally.
In recent years, we’ve seen a welcome rise in the number of books featuring women as killers, not victims. Subverting the traditional murder model is interesting far beyond the simple appeal of not having to read about women getting hurt. Reversing the roles opens up crime fiction to deeper insight into complicated women, and in the murder act itself there’s more scope for ingenuity and even humour. It’s not straightforward when killing someone who’s bigger and stronger than you. This can lead to female killers being more conniving when it comes to method, and giving potential for dark comedy in the achievement of it.
As we’re so conditioned to think of women as needing protection, women as aggressors are as unexpected as men being their victims. Men are not the ones who are told to avoid dark streets, to walk home gripping keys in their fists. They don’t expect danger to come for them, and certainly not in high heels. Female killers can lean into being under-estimated and get their man when they least expect it.
Reading books about women in control can help us celebrate how capable women are, even when the expert skill is in being dark and depraved. These women aren’t hemmed in by societal expectations. They are loud and unapologetic, and they do whatever the hell they want. Reading about female protagonists like this, can help us escape and can help us forget how sometimes even when women just want to get home, and do everything they’ve been taught to do to protect themselves, they can still be hurt because a bad man has a badge.
In these five books listed below women are the ones in control–from killers to manipulative masterminds to those with superpowers. They all open our eyes to a different power dynamic. Angry women, vengeful women, unlikeable women all disrupt the status quo, and it can make for an all the more exciting read. They’re in the driving seat, and we’re along for the ride.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Amy Dunne is missing. Her husband Nick is suspected of being involved. Told through their alternating voices as the investigation progresses, it soon becomes clear nothing about what happened to Amy is even slightly predictable. The end payoff uncovers a meticulously planned revenge that shows how far-reaching one woman’s control can be. Someone to be both admired and avoided, Amy Dunne is the ultimate ‘cool girl’.
My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Korede’s sister is a serial killer. Despite her misgivings Korede assists her with disposing of the dead men’s bodies and tries to believe her when she repeatedly uses the excuse of self-defence. In this darkly comic thriller, family love and loyalty is challenged when Korede tries to keep her work crush safe from her deadly sister.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
A power is awakened in women everywhere enabling them to generate an electric charge strong enough to kill a man just through touch. This dystopian novel expertly navigates the consequences and repercussions of upsetting the balance of power between the sexes. Highlighting how ingrained physical dominance is with control, we see an alternate world, one where men run scared, and women have to try and stop their power from corrupting them.
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers
Food critic Dorothy Daniels is a convicted serial killer who didn’t just kill men: she ate them too. Dorothy thinks people don’t believe women are capable of violent crimes – as she says, ‘Feminism comes to all things, it seems, but it comes to recognizing homicidal rage the slowest.’ Narrating the story of her crimes from prison Dorothy flashes back to highlights of her childhood, her career and her kills. A bold and beautifully written woman who dances to the beat of her own gory drum.
They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
Dr. Scarlett Clark is a killer and Gorman University is her hunting ground. Every year she chooses the worst man on campus to become her next victim. With her precision planning and attention to detail she has so far evaded capture. But her luck could be about to change as just when she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school start looking into their seemingly unusually high body count. Another excellent feminist revenge thriller where you’ll find yourself backing the bad girl.
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