Thrillers & Suspense
![Ivy Pochoda - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B0028OE3AE.jpg)
These Women: A Novel
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
AN LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE, MYSTERY & THRILLER FINALIST * AN INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS FINALIST, BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL * A MACAVITY BEST MYSTERY NOVEL FINALIST
A Recommended Book From
The New York Times Book Review * The Washington Post * Vogue * Entertainment Weekly * Elle * People * Marie Claire * Vulture * The Minneapolis Star-Tribune * LitHub * Crime Reads * PopSugar * AARP * Book Marks * South Florida Sun Sentinel
From the award-winning author of Wonder Valley and Visitation Street comes a serial killer story like you've never seen before-a literary thriller of female empowerment and social change
In West Adams, a rapidly changing part of South Los Angeles, they're referred to as "these women." These women on the corner … These women in the club … These women who won't stop asking questions … These women who got what they deserved …
In her masterful new novel, Ivy Pochoda creates a kaleidoscope of loss, power, and hope featuring five very different women whose lives are steeped in danger and anguish. They're connected by one man and his deadly obsession, though not all of them know that yet. There's Dorian, still adrift after her daughter's murder remains unsolved; Julianna, a young dancer nicknamed Jujubee, who lives hard and fast, resisting anyone trying to slow her down; Essie, a brilliant vice cop who sees a crime pattern emerging where no one else does; Marella, a daring performance artist whose work has long pushed boundaries but now puts her in peril; and Anneke, a quiet woman who has turned a willfully blind eye to those around her for far too long. The careful existence they have built for themselves starts to crumble when two murders rock their neighborhood.
Written with beauty and grit, tension and grace, These Women is a glorious display of storytelling, a once-in-a-generation novel.
AN LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE, MYSTERY & THRILLER FINALIST * AN INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS FINALIST, BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL * A MACAVITY BEST MYSTERY NOVEL FINALIST
A Recommended Book From
The New York Times Book Review * The Washington Post * Vogue * Entertainment Weekly * Elle * People * Marie Claire * Vulture * The Minneapolis Star-Tribune * LitHub * Crime Reads * PopSugar * AARP * Book Marks * South Florida Sun Sentinel
From the award-winning author of Wonder Valley and Visitation Street comes a serial killer story like you've never seen before-a literary thriller of female empowerment and social change
In West Adams, a rapidly changing part of South Los Angeles, they're referred to as "these women." These women on the corner … These women in the club … These women who won't stop asking questions … These women who got what they deserved …
In her masterful new novel, Ivy Pochoda creates a kaleidoscope of loss, power, and hope featuring five very different women whose lives are steeped in danger and anguish. They're connected by one man and his deadly obsession, though not all of them know that yet. There's Dorian, still adrift after her daughter's murder remains unsolved; Julianna, a young dancer nicknamed Jujubee, who lives hard and fast, resisting anyone trying to slow her down; Essie, a brilliant vice cop who sees a crime pattern emerging where no one else does; Marella, a daring performance artist whose work has long pushed boundaries but now puts her in peril; and Anneke, a quiet woman who has turned a willfully blind eye to those around her for far too long. The careful existence they have built for themselves starts to crumble when two murders rock their neighborhood.
Written with beauty and grit, tension and grace, These Women is a glorious display of storytelling, a once-in-a-generation novel.
Editorial Reviews
"If women are the victims in this intricate, deeply felt, beautifully written novel, they are also its heroes. The story unfolds through the perspectives of five characters, all women, with overlapping and interweaving histories. Their voices sizzle and sparkle; each of them helps advance the plot, and each brings to it her own particular pain and her own particular tragedy. All are haunted by birth and circumstance." -- New York Times Book Review
"Flawless... Razor-sharp… 'These Women' is at first glance a conventional murder mystery constructed on that sturdy old tripod of serial killer, murdered women and dogged female detective. But each of those elements is freshly minted here thanks to the psychological depth granted each character and the graceful twists of Ms. Pochoda's cunning yet unfussy plot….Only when the last piece of this finely crafted puzzle slides into place is the killer revealed." -- Wall Street Journal
"These Women doesn't hinge on the killer's identity or the logistics of catching him. Instead, the central question is whether anyone will ever listen to the women, victims or survivors…. In fine-tuned and affecting prose, Pochoda captures the women's voices, the way they use cracked humor or street smarts as coping mechanisms." -- Los Angeles Times
"The city that Pochoda conjures in artful, unmissable detail on nearly every page: a place as textured and immediate as any breathing, sentient character."
-- Entertainment Weekly
"Pochoda turns grief, suffering and loss into art, crafting a literary thriller that is no less compelling for its deep emotional resonance." -- Vogue
"These Women is a gritty murder mystery with a feminist twist. Ivy Pochoda's LA-set noir is the perfect summer read." -- O, the Oprah Magazine
"Ivy Pochoda asks readers to consider one of the themes that unites her books: Who are the people we overlook, ignore, don't see, dismiss in the world?…. Not only has Pochoda written an immersive, intriguing murder mystery - she's also crafted a framework with which we can examine how all women are viewed in Western cultures." -- NPR
"Electric.... Filled with snappy and propulsive prose... In revealing what happens when women are discounted, [Pochoda] poses an uncomfortable question: Why do we fight for some and not others?" -- Time
"Five very different women have one thing in common: They are all being watched by a vicious series killer. Inverting the classic cat-and-mouse style, Ivy Pochoda's masterful page-turner rocks with tension." -- Marie Claire
"Stunning . . . . Ivy Pochoda finds beauty in the gritty side, hope where others see limited options, and grace and strength in those who live on the margins. So do the chara...
"Flawless... Razor-sharp… 'These Women' is at first glance a conventional murder mystery constructed on that sturdy old tripod of serial killer, murdered women and dogged female detective. But each of those elements is freshly minted here thanks to the psychological depth granted each character and the graceful twists of Ms. Pochoda's cunning yet unfussy plot….Only when the last piece of this finely crafted puzzle slides into place is the killer revealed." -- Wall Street Journal
"These Women doesn't hinge on the killer's identity or the logistics of catching him. Instead, the central question is whether anyone will ever listen to the women, victims or survivors…. In fine-tuned and affecting prose, Pochoda captures the women's voices, the way they use cracked humor or street smarts as coping mechanisms." -- Los Angeles Times
"The city that Pochoda conjures in artful, unmissable detail on nearly every page: a place as textured and immediate as any breathing, sentient character."
-- Entertainment Weekly
"Pochoda turns grief, suffering and loss into art, crafting a literary thriller that is no less compelling for its deep emotional resonance." -- Vogue
"These Women is a gritty murder mystery with a feminist twist. Ivy Pochoda's LA-set noir is the perfect summer read." -- O, the Oprah Magazine
"Ivy Pochoda asks readers to consider one of the themes that unites her books: Who are the people we overlook, ignore, don't see, dismiss in the world?…. Not only has Pochoda written an immersive, intriguing murder mystery - she's also crafted a framework with which we can examine how all women are viewed in Western cultures." -- NPR
"Electric.... Filled with snappy and propulsive prose... In revealing what happens when women are discounted, [Pochoda] poses an uncomfortable question: Why do we fight for some and not others?" -- Time
"Five very different women have one thing in common: They are all being watched by a vicious series killer. Inverting the classic cat-and-mouse style, Ivy Pochoda's masterful page-turner rocks with tension." -- Marie Claire
"Stunning . . . . Ivy Pochoda finds beauty in the gritty side, hope where others see limited options, and grace and strength in those who live on the margins. So do the chara...
Readers Top Reviews
J. SmallW. A. BurtWi
I loved Visitation Street by the same author, so I thought I give this novel a go. It did not disappoint, but was hard going at times as the story is about violence against women. But like Visitation Street, Pachoda has the ability to make her characters come to life. They feel like people you've met or people you know. As a writer, she is also gifted in her ability to create a sense of time and place.
Lolagerardpeter
I heard a lot of praise about "These Women" and was excited to read it. I thought it would be a intriguing detective story, part thriller, part social drama. Brilliantly plotted? I don't think so. Sadly, I was left disappointed and wondering if there was something else, apart from giving the voice to the voiceless, that should have impressed me. It is a weak detective investigation story which comes together by saying/showing rather than deep brain work and the conclusion is rushed and unimpressive. But "These Women" also throws a bright (if not harsh) light on the lives of numerous sex workers in Los Angeles, their aspirations, dreams and, ultimately, demise. The book reminded me of "The Mars Room", a novel by Rachel Kushner. And if you really enjoyed "These Women", I recommend "The Mars Room" to you (which was great!).
Paul's Girl
How to survive as a woman in today's world? How to negotiate the violence that is all around us? How to be heard--as a person, as a woman--when even other women will not listen to you? These are some of the ideas explored in Ivy Pochoda's tour de force, These Women. At first, this book was so far from what I was expecting, based on the advertising blurbs, that I thought I had ordered the wrong book. After reading it, I can see that an advertising department might have trouble categorizing this book, because it's like nothing I've ever read before. This is not "a serial killer thriller". It starts off at a slow burn and at first seems confusing and disjointed. It doesn't take long to get in the rhythm of the writing and the story--told from five distinctive viewpoints. About 60 pages in, you realize that Ms. Pochoda has taken a fairly "common" serial killer story, turned it upside down, shaken it around, and then turned it inside out, just for good measure. She successfully maintains this high wire act till the last page. The women are connected, the story is brought to a satisfying conclusion. Don't miss this intriguing, thought provoking masterpiece.
Gary Powell
Hookers. Not worth worrying about by the police, even if a few have their throats cut, their heads in plastic bags and discarded in the middle of LA on Western. We are inside their heads. Eventually someone in the police starts to listen, starts to care. Some one has a daughter who realizes that someone close cares more than he should. Then it all unravels. Quite a ride!
Emily Kay
I tore through this book and loved how it placed displaced women firmly at the centre without condescension. I was invested in each woman and the area in which they lived and worked. I wish I could read this again like the first time. I’m not sure I took a breath until the end. Sure it’s a murder mystery but it is also pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the genre. I’m about to do a deep dive into her other books now. Grateful for this authors way of thinking and viewing the world.
