Toxic female friendships: 5 books to haunt your evenings
27th March 2015
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Hot off the back of Gone Girl, the twisted anti-heroine genre is having a rather extended moment.
We can see why: with power, crime, danger, manipulation and often a strong dose of sex, the femme fatale is hardly a new literary trope.
It’s hard to remember a time in recent history that it’s taken over our bookshelves and Kindle stores quite so prominently, though.
Joining this toxic party is The Lie, a taught and threatening the-past-is-coming-back-to-haunt-you thriller about the dangers of female friendships – and what happens when they go very, very wrong.
Here, The Lie’s author Cally (CL) Taylor shares her top five books with dangerous female leads. From Single White Female to Black Narcissus, these are the women that put Amy Dunne to shame...
Single White Female – John Lutz
It’s the chilling novel that inspired the classic film about Allie Jones and her flatmate Hendra Carlson. At first Hendra seems perfectly nice – quiet and shy and the ideal person to share a flat with – but there’s more to her than meets the eye. She becomes envious of Allie’s looks and social life and begins to mimic her; wearing her clothes and even buying a wig that bears more than a passing resemblance to Allie’s hairstyle. But Hendra isn’t satisfied with just looking like Allie, and she won’t stop until she’s taken everything Allie holds dear. Gripping and terrifying, you’ll be holding your breath as Allie fights for her life, in more ways than one.

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