The Love of a Bad Man

Laura Elizabeth Woollett

‘Like Helen Garner, Laura Woollett is impelled to explore the darkest corners of the human heart, the savage cognitive distortions of love; to understand and empathise with the monstrous, rather than to instinctively recoil or judge … Woollett's pitch-perfect command of narrative voice, period, and psychology creates 12 tales to fascinate and unnerve.’

Cameron Woodhead, The Age

‘The Love of a Bad Man imagines the inner lives of historical figures who committed crimes all in the name of love … The stories treat death with a gothic inevitability and explore human darkness with a light touch.’

Lou Heinrich, The Guardian

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‘[Woollett’s] stories are beautifully written – poised and elegant.’

Eithne Farry, Daily Mail

‘With each finely tuned voice, Woollett draws empathy from abject horror. A confident and mesmerising performance.’

Melanie Joosten, author of Berlin Syndrome

‘Seductive and enthralling … Woollett is a master of her craft. You won’t be able to put it down.’

Stephanie Dickinson, author of Love Highway

‘Compelling and powerful … Woollett has inhabited the spirit of these various women in a manner both thought-provoking and touching.’

Ruth Wykes, co-author of Women Who Kill and Invisible Women

‘The Love of a Bad Man is a rare combination of immense writing talent and wondrous imagination. You've never read a book quite like this one.’

Jeff Guinn, author of Go Down Together and Manson

‘A genuinely fresh reading experience … we’re sure to hear a lot more from this talented writer in coming years.’

Books+Publishing, starred review

‘Woollett explores power, obsession and warped love in this absorbing collection.’

Sharmaine Lovegrove, Elle

‘[Woollett] raises unnerving questions about the nature of desire: about why any of us are drawn to people who are bad, or bad for us, and why we stay with them. That she refuses to answer them is not to the detriment of The Love of a Bad Man, and in fact ensures that the collection never feels gimmicky … The stories are entirely concerned with conveying the distinctive interiority of the women, with the exploration of their impulses and insecurities. It is by the accretion of these case studies, rather than by armchair psychologising her girls, that Woollett builds her case.’

Veronica Sullivan, The Lifted Brow

‘[T]he varied voices are what makes this collection outstanding … truly unsettling reading.’

Emerald Street

‘Chilling … [Woollett] has rendered these women so real, so believable, sympathetic, and even likeable in some cases, despite the dreadful things they condone or participate in.’

AustCrime

‘[W]hat sets Woollett apart is the ease with which she floats through the lives of her protagonists … an experiment in the limits of empathy.’

Crimereads

‘An unusual and affecting reading experience, coupling true crime with literary fiction … Laura Elizabeth Woollett is refreshing, challenging, and utterly unique and I’m already looking forward to her next achievement.’

Readings Monthly

‘The idea is intriguing and the execution goes well beyond expectation … The Love of a Bad Man gives sophisticated insight, and is full of empathy and nuance for the people portrayed.’

Lip Magazine

‘Woollett’s work in her female narrators’ interior lives, her in-depth research and deployment of detail and vernacular, combines to lend a frightening and compelling understanding to these women’s choices, and in some but not all cases, their coercion.’

Homer

‘Woollett is skilled at giving each woman a different voice, from the dramatic correspondence of Veronica Compton, to the semi-educated whining of Blanche Burrow. What each woman has in common is their transformation.’

New York Journal of Books

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION

A schoolgirl catches the eye of the future leader of Nazi Germany. An aspiring playwright writes to a convicted serial killer, seeking inspiration. A pair of childhood sweethearts reunite to commit rape and murder. A devoted Mormon wife follows her husband into the wilderness after he declares himself a prophet.

The twelve stories in The Love of a Bad Man imagine the lives of real women, all of whom were the lovers, wives, or mistresses of various ‘bad’ men in history. Beautifully observed, fascinating, and at times horrifying, the stories interrogate power, the nature of obsession, and the lengths some women will go to for the men they love.

PRAISE FOR LAURA ELIZABETH WOOLLETT

Cameron Woodhead, The Age

Lou Heinrich, The Guardian

View all reviews

‘[Woollett’s] stories are beautifully written – poised and elegant.’

Eithne Farry, Daily Mail

‘With each finely tuned voice, Woollett draws empathy from abject horror. A confident and mesmerising performance.’

Melanie Joosten, author of Berlin Syndrome

‘Seductive and enthralling … Woollett is a master of her craft. You won’t be able to put it down.’

Stephanie Dickinson, author of Love Highway

‘Compelling and powerful … Woollett has inhabited the spirit of these various women in a manner both thought-provoking and touching.’

Ruth Wykes, co-author of Women Who Kill and Invisible Women

‘The Love of a Bad Man is a rare combination of immense writing talent and wondrous imagination. You've never read a book quite like this one.’

Jeff Guinn, author of Go Down Together and Manson

‘A genuinely fresh reading experience … we’re sure to hear a lot more from this talented writer in coming years.’

Books+Publishing, starred review

‘Woollett explores power, obsession and warped love in this absorbing collection.’

Sharmaine Lovegrove, Elle

Veronica Sullivan, The Lifted Brow

‘[T]he varied voices are what makes this collection outstanding … truly unsettling reading.’

Emerald Street

‘Chilling … [Woollett] has rendered these women so real, so believable, sympathetic, and even likeable in some cases, despite the dreadful things they condone or participate in.’

AustCrime

‘[W]hat sets Woollett apart is the ease with which she floats through the lives of her protagonists … an experiment in the limits of empathy.’

Crimereads

Readings Monthly

‘The idea is intriguing and the execution goes well beyond expectation … The Love of a Bad Man gives sophisticated insight, and is full of empathy and nuance for the people portrayed.’

Lip Magazine

Homer

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 210mm × 148mm

Extent:240pp

ISBN (13):9781925321555

RRP:$29.99

Pub date:29 Aug 2016

Rights Held: World

Rights Sold: Audio (Dreamscape)

High-res cover:Download Image

AWARDS

2017 Ned Kelly Awards, Best First Fiction - Short-listed 2017 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction - Short-listed

CATEGORIES / tags

AUTHOR

Laura Elizabeth Woollett

Laura Elizabeth Woollett is the author of a short story collection, The Love of a Bad Man (Scribe, 2016), and two novels, Beautiful Revolutionary (Scribe, 2018) and The Newcomer (Scribe, 2021). The Love of a Bad Man was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. Beautiful Revolutionary was shortlisted for the 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, and the Kathleen Mitchell Award. Laura was the City of Melbourne’s 2020 Boyd Garret writer-in-residence and a 2020-22 Marten Bequest scholar for prose.