Seven titles featuring the unapologetic woman in the Gothic

Kim Taylor Blakemore's new novel, The Companion, is her adult debut in historical mystery.

At CrimeReads she tagged seven books that represent the transformation of the Gothic heroine from victim to strong and dangerous, including:

See What I Have Done, by Sarah Schmidt

Lizzie Borden had an ax… In Sarah Schmidt’s novel, we are brought into the Borden household a few days before the horrific event. It is as if we are a member of the household, sharing the intimacies and frustrations of a family already out of order in a house too small for the people it holds. It is not just Lizzie we hear from, but her father, the maid, her sister, and a stranger. The minutes tick by. The father goes out. The mutton soup is most likely rancid. Lizzie visits her pigeons in the barn. Simple moments that become a terrible whole. The father and mother will die. That is a given. Lizzie will show not an ounce of regret or despair. She didn’t do it, she claims, so why should she feel either? Schmidt’s control of the tale creates one of the most ominous and surprising novels I have ever read.

Read about another entry on the list.

See What I Have Done is among Alyssa Palombo's five spooky books set in real places and Mallory O'Meara's ten top horror books for wimps.

--Marshal Zeringue