Product Description

Ruth Patchett never thought of herself as particularly devilish. Rather the opposite in fact – simply a tall, not terribly attractive woman living a quiet life as a wife and mother in a respectable suburb. But when she discovers that her husband is having a passionate affair with the lovely romantic novelist Mary Fisher, she is so seized by envy that she becomes truly diabolic. Within weeks she has burnt down the family home, collected the insurance, made love to the local drunk and embarked on a course of destruction and revenge.

A blackly comic satire of the war of the sexes, LIFE AND LOVES OF A SHE DEVIL is the fantasy of the wronged woman made real.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25909 in Books
• Published on: 1995-02-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review

'A tour de force: a macabre, fast-moving moral fable'

'More audacious and striking in design than anything that has gone before . . . carried out with such dash and glitter'

'Rousing . . . The fun grows steadily blacker and wilder'

'A savage, sadistic even, but beautifully and compellingly written satire'

About the Author
Fay Weldon is well known at home and abroad as a novelist, playwright, critic and screenwriter, several of whose novels have been adapted for film and television, including THE LIFE AND LOVES OF A SHE DEVIL.

Customer Reviews

A modern day fairytale
Fay Weldon's novel is masterfully envisioned in the audio adaptation. This success is in the main due to a skillful and powerful reading by Patricia Hodge.

Hodge brings to life this tale of Ruth, an unattrative housewife who seeks revenge on both her husband and the new object of his affection, the successful romance novelist Mary Fisher.

The novel plays upon the transformation of the two female characters as Ruth molds herself into a she devil, a tool with which to reek her fury upon the world, and as a result Mary's world crumbles about her, the fairy castle becoming tarnished and unlovely.

At times harrowing, Weldon's work portrays the desperate plight of the unwanted and the undesirable, and the satisfaction of destruction.

My all-time favourite book
This is a powerful story, simply told.

I'd go as far as to say that the story borders on the mythological. Fay Weldon's use of sparse and simple prose in the telling of it strengthens the story even further.

Fay Weldon has an understanding of human nature which transcends the boundaries of social nicety and political correctness at the best of times, but she improves on her usual excellence here. This book presents the light and shadow of men and women in all their forms - there are no "good-guys" or "bad-guys" here. She shows how good can spring from bad and bad from good... a dangerous idea? Read it and see what you think.

I've read this book at least a dozen times over the years and I've learned something new about life, and myself, every time. It's frightening, uplifting and ultimately liberating. I can't recommend it more highly.

Different from nething else but great and gripping .
This book was chosen for my RPR at school and at first i didnt enjoy it but as i slowly read on I was gripped by the irony and sarcasm of the story and Ruth,the main charachter.I thought that it was a really interesting read and felt that the character ruth was so strong and determined!fay Weldon is a fabulous feminist and ironic write and I'd enjoy reading more of her novels.I'd reccomend it to those who like a bit of scandal!