My Life as a Villainess: Essays

(Hardback, Main)

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I knew something new about venality - my own. I realized I had become the bad guy in someone else's story. And I deserved it.

Laura Lippman's first job in journalism was a rookie reporter in Waco, Texas. Two decades later she left her first husband, quit the newspaper business, and became a full time novelist.

I had been creating villains on the page for about seven years when I finally became one.

Her fiction has always centered on complicated women, paying unique attention to the intricacies of their flaws, their vulnerability, and their empowerment. Now, finally, Lippman has turned her gimlet eye on a new subject: herself.

My daughter was ten days old the first time I was asked if I were her grandmother.

In this, her first collection of essays, Lippman gives us a brilliant, candid portrait of an unapologetically flawed life. Childhood, friendships, influences, becoming a mother in later life - Lippman's inspiring life stories are at once specific and universal.

Reviews

'Candid and quirky, this book will have special appeal to fans of her crime fiction. A wryly observed collection from a reliably good writer.' - Kirkus

'She revels in confession and connection, surprise and provocation, and she performs all with panache, wisdom, wit, and courage. Lippman asserts: "I'm a tough old bird," and readers will declare: and one helluva true-tale teller.' - Booklist

Author Bio

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The Baltimore Sun. Her novels have won numerous crime fiction prizes, including the Edgar, Anthony, Nero Wolfe and Agatha awards in the US. As well as featuring in numerous end of year lists, her 2018 novel Sunburn was nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger Award, won the eDunnit Award and was a Waterstones Book of the Month. Her most recent novel, Lady in the Lake (2019) was a New York Times bestseller.