The book spends much of its time trapped in the drowsy, malevolent bardo of its heroine’s increasingly sinister confinement, every hour a slow drip of impending calamity ... In a genre that can be numbingly formulaic and indifferently composed, she remains a masterful builder of mood, her voluptuous prose heavy with sex and weather. But as Jacy dithers and stalls in the July heat, so does the story, even as it wends toward the feverish, improbable rush of its climax. Woman, beware; these are the signs you were looking for.
Gleefully overturn[s] the age-old 'woman-in-trouble' plot ... It's inspired, not so much by hardboiled mysteries, but by another hallowed suspense genre: the Gothic ... Explores the timely topic of women's autonomy over their own bodies, especially during pregnancy.
Takes romantic suspense to the far edge of melodrama ... Ms. Abbott’s storytelling talent is on fine display here. We’re gripped from the first page and soon in the spell of an enchantment ... Whether or not one is satisfied by the book’s bizarre denouement, Ms. Abbott has undeniably given us a story we’ll never forget.
Abbott, who has written 11 previous novels, isn't at peak form in Woman, which isn't as ingenious as You Will Know Me, but Woman fits comfortably with her other feminist updates of thriller tropes.
Abbott is economical in her physical descriptions of character and setting but succeeds in painting a vivid picture of both ... Abbott’s writing is elegant and precise. She also deftly and subtly illustrates the unfortunate fact that women are often not taken seriously by medical professionals, even when that practitioner is a woman. However, that does not make up for a lackluster plot.
Another knockout ... Abbott is an accomplished storyteller...and this is one of her most compelling and well-constructed novels. A real treat for the author’s many fans and for everyone who treasures that sense of Gothic-tinged trouble both within and without.
Spine-tingling ... Abbott expertly foreshadows the wrenching family secrets that are exposed in a ferocious finale. Sinewy prose and note-perfect pacing make this a masterful and provocative deep dive into desire, love, and gender politics. Readers will be left breathless.
bbott masterfully uses the pretext of a pregnant woman’s heightened senses...to build a claustrophobic atmosphere of mistrust and insecurity reminiscent of Get Out. You’re sure to get chills. An unsettling, nightmare-inducing morsel from a master of suspense.
