I thought that it was really powerful that you could write a character where I could know that without you saying it, or even really alluding to it. NYLAH BURTON: Extremely early on in the book, like less than 15 pages in, I said to myself, “This woman is going to lose a baby, or she already has.” It was something about the way she was talking, and I just knew it. To help us unpack it all, Taddeo spoke with Shondaland about her debut novel, female rage, and writing to help people feel less alone. Is Alice the one destined to be murdered by Joan? Or will Joan be murdered by Alice? Or will they live happily ever after in sororal bliss? We never really know until the end, and Joan’s bursts of depraved thoughts don’t help us reach a conclusion. As soon as the two women meet, an electrifying bond forms that’s always on the precipice of some deep betrayal or the loveliest intimacy. And characters like Joan - women who are animalistic, somewhat immature, and uncomfortably intelligent - are somehow still relatable regardless of the revolting things they say and do.Īfter Vic’s death, Joan sets out on a road trip from New York City to Los Angeles, where she is seeking - hunting, more accurately - a woman named Alice, to whom she has an intense but hidden connection.

Recently, the loose genre of “Women Not Giving a F-k” has been near-perfected by authors like Raven Leilani and Gillian Flynn. Joan also admits that her story ends in murder, although she rejects the inevitable label of “sociopath” that she knows others will foist upon her.Īnd yet it is Joan’s depravity that makes her such an irresistible character.

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