Wednesday, February 09, 2022

Seven novels about women bending morality for family

Emilya Naymark was born in a country that no longer exists, escaped with her parents, lived in Italy for a bit, and ended up in New York, which promptly became a love and a muse.

She studied art and was lucky enough to illustrate numerous publications before transitioning to the digital world.

She has a particular fascination with psychological thrillers, crime, and suspense. All the dark stuff. So that’s what she writes.

Naymark's novels are Hide in Place and the newly released Behind the Lie.

At CrimeReads she tagged seven "novels [that] are examples of women going against their moral code—to the point of self-sacrifice—to protect those they love most." One title on the list:
The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

When Lucy’s mother-in-law dies, the suicide note near her body blames cancer. However, her autopsy shows no cancer at all, but rather poison. Evidence of suffocation. And then there’s funny business with the will, which disinherits her two children and their families. As the novel explores family relationships and shows the investigation into what can only be murder, the mother-in-law’s story emerges.

Diana was not an easy or a simple person, and her own strict moral code governed her life from an early age.

As Diana watches over her grown children, she feels she has failed them. In a decision born less of desperation and more out of a desire to do the absolute best for her family, Diana sets in motion a series of events that destroy everything she’d pursued and built.
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue