Publication date: September 19, 2023
Date read: July 5, 2023
This riveting and well-researched volume by Lisa Perrin weaves together the stories of more than twenty-five accused women poisoners, exploring the circumstances and skill sets that led them to lives of crime.
This is such a fun book.
First of all, I really did learn a lot while reading this book. A few of the women profiled in this book I had heard of before - Wu Zetian, Cleopatra, Lucrezia Borges, and Catherine de Medici - but there were a lot that were new to me. Also, before you jump down my (or the author's) throat here, Perrin uses some of these women of the past (Cleopatra and Borges, especially) to discuss poisons, but also to somewhat clear their names.
Some of the female poisoners in this book are condemned for the things they did (as they should be). Their stories are interesting, but they're not exactly women that the author wants us to root for. Many of the women in this book, however, the author does want us to root for. Yes, they killed people. Yes, killing is wrong. But the Carribean woman who used poison to fight slavery... or the woman who sold her poisons to others who were being abused by their husbands... it's sometimes hard not to smile a bit at their misdeeds.
I don't know if this book will be available in audiobook, but if possible, you must pick up the book in paper form. The book is filled with gorgeous illustrations that shouldn't be missed. I also really enjoyed the sections that were just purely educational about poisons themselves - pages on poisonous plants, poisonous animals, origins and effects of various common poisons, and so much more.
I know that some will be put off by this book - it does treat murder in a rather flippant way, often nearly praising some of these women for what they did. And while I found the author to be really funny in her writing, there will be some who find it off-putting. But for those with a slightly more morbid sense of humor, or with an interest in true crime, this is a book that I can highly recommend. It's also not very scientifically complex - while science is sometimes discussed, it is written in a very layman-friendly format. There were a few parts that I personally even found a little too dumbed down, mostly in the chapter summaries, but it's generally written very well. It's fun, morbid, and educational - what's not to love?
Rating: 4/5 stars
Content warning: murder, cruelty to animals, misogyny, suicide, hanging, gore
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.
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