The Love of a Bad Man

Author(s): Laura Elizabeth Woollett

Fiction

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION


A schoolgirl catches the eye of the future leader of Nazi Germany. An aspiring playwright writes to a convicted serial killer, seeking inspiration. A pair of childhood sweethearts reunite to commit rape and murder. A devoted Mormon wife follows her husband into the wilderness after he declares himself a prophet.


The twelve stories in The Love of a Bad Man imagine the lives of real women, all of whom were the lovers, wives, or mistresses of various 'bad' men in history. Beautifully observed, fascinating, and at times horrifying, the stories interrogate power, the nature of obsession, and the lengths some women will go to for the men they love.


PRAISE FOR LAURA ELIZABETH WOOLLETT


'Like Helen Garner, Laura Woollett is impelled to explore the darkest corners of the human heart, the savage cognitive distortions of love; to understand and empathise with the monstrous, rather than to instinctively recoil or judge ... Woollett's pitch-perfect command of narrative voice, period, and psychology creates 12 tales to fascinate and unnerve.' The Age


'The Love of a Bad Man imagines the inner lives of historical figures who committed crimes all in the name of love ... The stories treat death with a gothic inevitability and explore human darkness with a light touch.' The Guardian

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Product Information

* The debut short-story collection from an exciting new literary talent - Laura was featured as one of MWF's '30 Under 30' in 2015.* Blending creative fiction with true crime and literary historical biography, the collection explores the lives of 12 real-life women from history who were the lovers, wives, or mistresses of 'bad men' - from the notorious Moors murderer Myra Hindley to the lesser-known Australian serial-killer Catherine Birnie.* Achieves the delicate balancing act of finding the humanity in each of the women without ever shying away from the at-times terrible things they have done, or were party to. * For readers of Abigail Ulman, Hannah Kent, and Margaret Atwood.

"Laura Elizabeth Woollett is a Perthborn, Melbourne-based author and editor. Her first novel, The Wood of Suicides, was published in the US in early 2014. From 2012 to early 2015 she was a fiction editor for Voiceworks. More recently, she appeared as one of Melbourne Writers Festival's 30 Under 30'. Her work has appeared widely in print and online, including in Kill Your Darlings, The Suburban Review, and Literary Hub."

General Fields

  • : 9781925321555
  • : Scribe Publications
  • : Scribe Publications
  • : 0.282
  • : August 2016
  • : 221mm X 151mm X 19mm
  • : Australia
  • : August 2016
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : 240
  • : Paperback
  • : Laura Elizabeth Woollett