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A review by simlish
Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense by Sarah Weinman
4.0
Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives is a short story anthology around the theme of women's suspense writing, from the beginning of the genre. It's absolutely one of the best short story anthologies I've read. Most anthologies have trouble with widely variable quality between the short stories, and I come into them expecting that. This one, even the ones that didn't quite work for me were pretty good -- they failed on a level of "I didn't like the twist" rather than general weakness or failure of suspense. The ones that were really good were really damn good.
My favorite was probably "The Splintered Monday," about an older woman after the death of her sister. She's suspicious because everyone in the family is being too nice to her, and though she is no detective, she starts asking questions.
Also up there -- "Sugar and Spice," about the murder of an actor and the two cousins that had vied for his love, "Louisa, Please Come Home," a new-to-me Shirley Jackson about a runaway that decides to return home and finds her parents no longer recognize her, "The Heroine," the first published short story by Patricia Highsmith, about an au pair who wants so badly to prove her love for the children in her care that she manufactures situations to save them from, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," about a secretary who married her boss and the threatening phone calls she receives, and "The Stranger in the Car," about a family trying to preserve face after a daughter is drugged and set up for blackmail. Murder is involved, of course.
The blurbs about the authors were almost as interesting as the short stories themselves -- there were so many women at the forefront of domestic suspense writing that I had no idea about, and hearing their biographies was absolutely fascinating. The most interesting, to me, was Miriam Allen Deford, who published her first short story at 12 and was working disseminating information about birth control at 14 (in 1902!!). While her story, "Mortmain," was not my favorite in the collection, it was still very suspenseful and interesting and I absolutely want to pick up either more works by her or a full length biography.
I highly recommend Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives to anyone interested in the suspense or thriller genres!
My favorite was probably "The Splintered Monday," about an older woman after the death of her sister. She's suspicious because everyone in the family is being too nice to her, and though she is no detective, she starts asking questions.
Also up there -- "Sugar and Spice," about the murder of an actor and the two cousins that had vied for his love, "Louisa, Please Come Home," a new-to-me Shirley Jackson about a runaway that decides to return home and finds her parents no longer recognize her, "The Heroine," the first published short story by Patricia Highsmith, about an au pair who wants so badly to prove her love for the children in her care that she manufactures situations to save them from, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," about a secretary who married her boss and the threatening phone calls she receives, and "The Stranger in the Car," about a family trying to preserve face after a daughter is drugged and set up for blackmail. Murder is involved, of course.
The blurbs about the authors were almost as interesting as the short stories themselves -- there were so many women at the forefront of domestic suspense writing that I had no idea about, and hearing their biographies was absolutely fascinating. The most interesting, to me, was Miriam Allen Deford, who published her first short story at 12 and was working disseminating information about birth control at 14 (in 1902!!). While her story, "Mortmain," was not my favorite in the collection, it was still very suspenseful and interesting and I absolutely want to pick up either more works by her or a full length biography.
I highly recommend Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives to anyone interested in the suspense or thriller genres!