Unhinged Women in Literature
Cameron Capello
Discover these great unhinged characters
Here’s a list of some of our favorite unhinged women in literature.“We Do What We Do in the Dark” by Michelle Hart. A sapphic tale about a woman and her affair with a much older married woman. Mallory is a freshman at college when she first meets the woman who works at the school. But years after the affair, she remains haunted by the relationship and must decide if she’ll stay in a life of isolation or step out of the shell and confess what this woman meant to her. “Out” by Natsuo KirinoAll you need to know? In the quiet Tokyo suburbs, a young mother who works the night shift making boxed lunches strangles her abusive husband and then seeks the help of her coworkers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime. It’s a wild ride worth taking. “Exalted” by Anna Dorn Emily is a self-hating lesbian who runs Exalted, a successful astrology account on Instagram. But Emily’s feeling burnt out, and she’s tired of making astrology memes and listicles. That is until she finds the perfect birth chart of one Beau Rubidoux, whose planets are so aligned that Emily’s convinced she’s the love of her life. Then there’s Dawn Webster, a single mother whose son has run off to Hollywood, and checking on Exalted is her one small joy. Switching between Dawn's and Emily’s perspectives, Exalted is dark, funny, and oh-so-relatable. “Homebodies” by Tembe Denton-Hurst Mickey Hayward seemingly has it all. A flashy, high-paying media job and a girlfriend who takes care of her. As a young Black writer, Mickey is frustrated and often feels overlooked, but she believes she might finally get the chance to prove herself—until she finds out she’s being replaced.Mickey fires back with a letter. It outlines the racism and sexism she’s endured as a Black woman in media, but it’s met with overwhelming silence - so she flees to the last place she ever dreamed she would run to: her hometown, where she reconnects with a former fling. When a media scandal catapults Mickey’s forgotten letter into the public zeitgeist, suddenly, everyone wants to hear what Mickey has to say. It’s what she’s always wanted—isn’t it?“Silver Nitrate” by Silvia Moreno-GarciaA gorgeous combination of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism, “Silver Nitrate” is a dark thriller about the curse that haunts a legendary lost film, whose director just so happens to be Montserrat’s best friend and Tristán’s neighbor. Together, Montserrat and Tristán help him shoot the missing scene from his movie and lift the curse… but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristán begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend. Spooky!“Pizza Girl” by Jean Kyoung FrazierEighteen years old, pregnant, and working as a pizza delivery girl in suburban Los Angeles, our charmingly dysfunctional heroine is deeply lost and in complete denial. She's grieving the death of her father, avoiding her supportive mom and loving boyfriend, and flagrantly ignoring her future.Her world is further upended when she becomes obsessed with Jenny, a stay-at-home mother new to the neighborhood, who comes to depend on weekly deliveries of pickle-covered pizzas for her son's happiness. As one woman looks toward motherhood and the other toward middle age, the relationship between the two begins to blur in strange, complicated, and ultimately heartbreaking ways.Other titles to check out!A Historical Fiction: ‘Plain Bad Heroines” by Emily M. Danforth and Sara LautmanA Foodie’s Nightmare: “A Certain Hunger” by Chelsea G. Sumner A Psychological Thriller: “In the Hands of Men” by Gin Sexsmithtype: embedded-entry-inline id: 3cTRsSzMS4ptU8HxVR7CodKeep reading on Fable
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Cameron Capello