creative writing from the Michener Center at the University of Texas. She was born and raised outside Philadelphia, where she now lives with her husband and son.
The Bombshell is her debut novel.
At Electric Lit she tagged seven novels in which women "don’t resign themselves to injustice, desperation, inattention, or boredom—they change their circumstances. So what if their methods are technically illegal?" One title on the list:
The Bandit Queens by Parini ShroffRead about another entry on the list.
For a novel about spousal abuse, the Indian caste system, misogyny, and mariticide, The Bandit Queens is surprisingly delightful. Geeta’s abusive, alcoholic husband left her five years ago, but rumor has it she killed him. She’snever bothered to set the record straight, which becomes an issue when the women in her microloan group start approaching her to kill their own no-good husbands.
If the men in this novel are mostly straightforward villains (you won’t feel guilty rooting for their demise), the women’s friendships are refreshingly nuanced. “Women splayed the far corners, their cruelty and kindness equally capacious.” They’re not above sisterly bickering, manipulation, or even blackmail, but when men threaten the safety of the most vulnerable members of the village, they’re there to support—and kill for—each other.
The Bandit Queens is among Julie Mae Cohen's six books featuring killer women.
--Marshal Zeringue
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