Arresting, deeply reported. . . . a patient reporter who embeds with her subjects long enough to write about their inner worlds with authority and nuance. . . . The Furies is deeply respectful of its subjects autonomy, including their self-justifications and mistakes. Flock largely withholds judgment, and her work is richer and more troubling because of it. Washington Post
Renowned journalist and author of The Heart is a Shifting Sea Elizabeth Flock investigates what few dare to confront, or even imagine: the role and necessity of female-led violence in this gripping work of narrative nonfiction.
In The Furies, a timely and provocative work of investigative journalism, Elizabeth Flock examines how three real-life women have used violence to fight back, and how views of women who defend their lives are often distorted by their depictions in media and pop culture. These three immersive narratives follow Brittany Smith, a young woman whose riveting true crime story from Stevenson, Alabama, saw her kill a man she said raped her but be denied the protection of the Stand-Your-Ground law; Angoori Dahariya, leader of a gang in Uttar Pradesh, India, dedicated to avenging victims of domestic abuse; and Cicek Mustafa Zibo, a fighter in a thousands-strong all-female militia that battled ISIS in Syria. Each woman chose to use lethal force to gain power, safety, and freedom when the institutions meant to protect themgovernment, police, courtsutterly failed to do so. Each woman has been criticized for their actions by those who believe that violence is never the answer.
Through Flocks propulsive prose and remarkable research on the groundembedded with families, communities, and organizations in America, India, and SyriaThe Furies examines, with exquisite nuance, whether the fight for womens safety is fully possible without force. Do these womens acts of vengeance help or hurt them, and ultimately, all women? Did they create l
