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librarykath's review
3.0
I'm torn by this book. I love the way Gideon Haigh writes about crime, particularly historical Australian crime. I appreciate that this time his aim was to focus on the victim, rather than the perpetrator, which is astonishingly rare in any crime genre when the victims are women. But I still felt like there was all too much focus on the men in her life Mollie Dean's life, than on her. This could be because of a dearth of information on Mollie Dean, which means one has to rely on the peripheral stories around her, but in the context of this book, it bothered me. I still felt like she was portrayed somewhat negatively, as though her ambition, her sexual liberation and her independence were somehow flaws, rather than in admiration of a woman ahead of her time.
That said, like all of Haigh's books, this is beautifully written and meticulously researched, and I couldn't put it down, despite my discomfort with the characterisation of Mollie Dean.
I wonder how a woman would have written Mollie's story?
That said, like all of Haigh's books, this is beautifully written and meticulously researched, and I couldn't put it down, despite my discomfort with the characterisation of Mollie Dean.
I wonder how a woman would have written Mollie's story?
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