Review of Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives edited by Sarah Weinman

Okay, I dropped the ball on this book.  I read it, agreed to review it…then didn't.  It came out late summer and I fell behind ….this dropped through the cracks.

It is an excellent book!  I loved every story in it.

The book was compiled and edited by Sarah Weinman, the news editor for Publisher's Marketplace.  She essentially - in this book - curated a selection of stories by women thriller writers published between around 1940 to 1970.

The stories range widely but all have an underlying psychological thriller theme…and can be creepy.  More often, a woman (or man….but mostly women) makes a bad judgment calls and pay for it harshly.

A girl leaves home and family only to get a surprise when she returns years later (only, shocking though it is, she isn't really surprised).  Another troubled young woman takes crazy action to prove her love.  One woman, thinking an ex-flame will wreck her marriage, makes a miscalculation that ends in death.

Most of the authors in this book aren't household names though some were quite successful during the time they were writing and publishing.  Others, like Patricia Highsmith, are still well known.

An excellent book.  An excellent holiday gift.  Light and engaging, yet sophisticated, reading.