Introducing us to eleven ordinary women who came to commit extreme acts, Anna Motz sheds light on women's capacity for violence. She takes the reader on a journey into psychotherapy, uncovering their motives and the fault lines in their psyche that led to their crimes. We meet Mary, who turned to arson after her son was taken into care, Maja, whose fantasy life led to her stalking an ex-boyfriend, and Dolores, whose terrible crime is unimaginable to most people.
Always treating her patients with care and compassion, despite often struggling to process the details of their deeds, Motz explores the dance between patient and therapist, the tortuous pathways to recovery and understanding, how society treats women who commit terrible crimes, and offers the reader a rare glimpse inside the world of the forensic psychotherapist.
