Women's violent revenge in fiction (contains plot spoilers)

[sethstarkaddersmummyreturns]

(This is partly for Elephants to make her feel less bad about the lack of a women's vigilante group )

Just finished reading two novels in a row` which end with a put-upon heroine taking a violent revenge and getting away with it - one was a Kate Atkinson where a kidnapped woman (who had had her family killed by a mad knifeman in childhood) neatly kills her two kidnappers then torches the scene so she gets away with it. Then last night I finished a Philippa Gregory where a woman electrocutes her overbearing MIL who is trying to have her committed and steal her baby, by wiring up her ds's empty pram, then makes it look like the MIL had an accident with a lawnmower.

Made me wonder if there is much else where the woman fights back and wins? As opposed to where the woman fights and is ultimately punished for it, Fatal Attraction style.

Ah thanks ssm :)

I have read that Kate Atkinson too (and loved it, especially the inversion of the stereotype of who gets killed in these kind of books).

Dirty Weekend by Helen Zahavi link is about a woman who gets pissed off with the casual and more serious stalking and abuse she experiences, and goes on a weekend rampage around Brighton. Brilliant bit about how Bella (the main character) is used by mothers to scare their sons when they are being naughty :o

I need to re-read Dirty Weekend some time, haven't looked at it for years.

The endings of both books were hugely narratively satisfying.

Oh that's the Little House Sethstarkaddersmummy I gave a sinister little chuckle at the end of that. DH was unnerved, beside me on the sofa.

In answer to your question, no, can't think of any at the mo...

I wonder if it's just coincidence that I read two in a row then. I'd thought it might indicate there were a lot more out there! Still maybe someone else will come up with something....

it was a great ending, wasn't it?

the girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy - the heroine, Lisbeth Salander, who was abused both by her father and institutionally takes violent revenge.

Of course Pumpkin - I only read them last month, you'd think I'd remember!
Excellent ending in The Little House - but didn't it seem like she was just stepping into the MIL's shoes as Queen Bee. I wouldn't think her own DIL will have a much happier time.
'Woman hands on misery to woman, it deepens like a coastal shelf...' to twist the quote a bit.

Just finished the girl who played with fire this morning. Fair to say that Lisbeth Salander takes no shit!

I was half watching ITV earlier and there was a trailer for a programme called 'The Little House'. It sounds like the Philippa Gregory novel the op has described.

I'm currently reading 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', really enjoying it but it's slow going due to the lack of time I have to read for pleasure atm.