Beware the Woman

From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Megan Abbott, an eerie and prescient novel about a family holiday that takes a terrifying turn.

'Megan Abbott can do no wrong. Stunningly twisty' ASHLEY AUDRAIN, author of THE PUSH

'One of the finest writers working in any genre' MARK BILLINGHAM

Honey, I just want you to have everything you ever wanted. That's what Jacy's mom always told her.

And Jacy feels like she finally does. Newly married and with a baby on the way, Jacy and her husband, Jed, go to visit his father, Dr. Ash, in his remote cottage in the woods of northern Michigan. From the moment they arrive, Jacy feels bathed in love by Dr. Ash, if less so by his housekeeper, the enigmatic Mrs. Brandt.

Then Jacy has a health scare. Swiftly, all eyes are on Jacy's condition, and whispers about Jed's long-dead mother and complicated family history seem to be intruding upon the present. As the days pass, Jacy feels trapped in the cottage, her body under the looking glass. But are her fears founded or is this -as is suggested to her-a stubborn refusal to take necessary precautions to protect her unborn child? The dense woods surrounding the cottage are full of dangers, but are the greater ones inside?

'Is there anyone like Megan Abbott? Beware the Woman is the work of a fearless cartographer of the darkest, seediest, most gloriously haunted landscapes of the human heart and psyche' Kelly Link

'Beware the Woman so deftly holds some of the most pressing feminist issues of our time in an eerie, ominous grip. Bodily autonomy, reproduction, patriarchal power-this thriller feels terrifyingly of the moment, and perhaps that's where the truest horror lies' Ashley Audrain, author of The Push