A Love That Kills: Stories of Forensic Psychology and Female Violence

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Description

Female violence is a truth too uncomfortable for most to consider. We treat those who kill, abuse and commit terrible acts as outcasts - they are monsters, angels of death, manifestations of pure evil and a threat to the ideals of womanhood.

In reality, the truth can be much more complex. Many women who commit acts of violence have been subjected to shocking abuse themselves. Some are suffering from serious mental illness or psychological harm. For many, the desperate search for the care they have been denied their whole lives leads them to repeat the same brutality they once suffered. Women like this are not the inhuman monsters of tabloid myth, but victims and proponents of abuse motivated by the most human instinct of all: to love and be loved.

Introducing us to eleven ordinary women who came to commit extreme acts, Anna Motz - one of Britain's leading forensic psychotherapists who has spent three decades working with violent women - takes us 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. Deeply affecting, compelling and profound, A Love That Kills offers a rare insight into the sometimes perilous dance between therapist and patient and the often tortuous pathways to recovery, asking vital questions about how society treats violent women.

Reviews

Clear eyed and compassionate, Anna Motz's expertise as a national and international commentator on female violence makes this a powerful read, which is moving in its compassion and hopeful in its message that it is possible to break the connection between trauma and violence -- GWEN ADSHEAD, author of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
A fascinating book bursting with humanity. A LOVE THAT KILLS reminds us all that a wrong decision can change everything and teaches us not to judge without first understanding. What a tour de force -- PROFESSOR SUE BLACK, author of ALL THAT REMAINS
In this compelling book, Anna Motz, one of the most experienced of the world's forensic psychologists, examines complex criminal cases involving women. Insightful, brilliant and illuminating, she reveals the unspoken truth about women and violence -- BARONESS HELENA KENNEDY QC
A fascinating look at shocking crimes, which peels back the uneasy and destructive relationship we have to the very idea of women and violence. An important book which exposes these truths in the same way that THREE WOMEN did for female sexuality -- ARAMINTA HALL, author of PERFECT STRANGERS
Judicious, compassionate, gripping, A LOVE THAT KILLS takes us on a journey into women's violence and the ways in which honed instincts and therapeutic knowledge allow a forensic psychologist to work with the hardest of cases. I couldn't put it down -- LISA APPIGNANESI
Combining deep professional expertise with compelling writing, this is an essential read for anyone who wants to better understand why women commit the most extreme crimes. At times harrowing, Anna Motz's account is above all compassionate, an argument for why empathy and understanding are the key to breaking generational cycles of violence -- LUCIE WHITEHOUSE, author of BEFORE WE MET
Based on thirty years of practical experience of working with violent women, Anna Motz's extraordinary book is a visceral assault on the senses and rebuts almost everything that we have come to believe about women who kill and commit the most appalling of violent crimes -- DAVID WILSON, author of MY LIFE WITH MURDERERS
I love this book. Motz is undaunted by the dark depths of life and my heart raced while reading it. She's courageous, compassionate and honest. Each chapter allows for surprising twists and turns in the nuances of human experiences and the pain of relationships. It's a riveting and fascinating book that's edifying and necessary. Motz explores heartbreaking agony and horror with respect and curiosity, and brings personalities and hidden stories to life -- Charlotte Fox Weber, author of WHAT WE WANT

Author Bio

Anna Motz is a Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and Psychotherapist, with over thirty years of experience working with violent women in prisons and in the community, and the staff who work with those women. She is a leading expert in women as perpetrators of violence.