It took me so long to get through this! I was so keen to read about the subject matter and that's what kept me going, but the structure really needed some work. The brief epilogue at the end wasn't really a conclusion and didn't do much to bring the three distinct chapters together. The narrative in the individual chapters followed a broad chronology but then regularly deviated from that, as well as introducing new people at odd points, which was confusing and disengaging. I still learnt a lot but this was disappointing.

This book is fantastic, infuriating, upsetting, and inspiring in equal measure. It’s not radical to say we live in a patriarchal world, or to point out women face injustices every single day, while expected to smile and get on with it, to make themselves smaller and quieter and adapt to systems designed to keep them in line. Through The Furies, Flock highlights the lives of three very different women, in three different parts of the world, who responded to the violence against them with their own violence, and the consequences that followed.

There’s a line towards the end about how nonviolence is a privilege, and it sums up the situations these women found themselves in really well. Each woman we meet here – whether it’s one of the three Flock focuses on or those who get mentioned in relation to them – has dealt with and faced situations no one would in an ideal world, and Flock explores the way society treats them due to the violence they used to protect themselves and their communities.

‘Stand Your Ground’ has become infamous even outside the US, in its use against marginalised folks especially, but Brittany Smith was denied it as a defence when she tried to make a man who assaulted her leave her home, and her life and her brother’s were under threat. As Flock points out, Brittany is not an ‘ideal’ victim – she is a working class, single mother who had her children removed from her care, and who struggles with addiction, but Flock raises the question of who we give support to and when. Her story here is heart-breaking, and Flock uses interviews to show us all sides of the story. It’s incredibly detailed, and like the rest of the book, clearly heavily researched.

Angoori Daharilya in Uttar Pradesh, India, fought back in the only way she could after she was kicked out of her home due to her class – she formed a gang, who worked to avenge victims of domestic abuse and punished those the police would not. Again, Angoori isn’t perfect; like all humans, and like Brittany, she is flawed, but she inspired and worked towards something to make lives for all women better, and forced those in powerful positions to actually pay attention.

Lastly, there’s Cicek Mustafa Zibo, part of the militia that battled ISIS in Syria. Although all three stories are powerful and, in many ways, difficult, I found this last one to be the one that had me tearing up. Not just because of Cicek and what she experienced, but the women around her, the difficulties they faced, and the constant threat to their lives, either from ISIS or Turkey.

None of these tales ends positively, but there’s a lot of reflection at the end regarding the impact their battles had on their own lives, and the lives of those around them.

Flock really brings these stories to life in her use of interviews and own descriptions of the places these women call home. She includes the wider context and dives deep into the gender bias involved in each story. It’s a hard read, and comes with a lot of trigger warnings – Flock doesn’t shy away from brutality and violence, although it never gets overly graphic, either. It’s easy to see how in a less informed writer’s hands these tales might have been twisted, but Flock gives a really balanced view, these women not presented as heroes or even trailblazers, but ordinary women thrust into often devastating, life changing circumstances.

These are the kind of things that stay with you, whether it’s a mother trying desperately to keep her children from arguing with each other as they both await trial, the bravery shown by a group of women in trying to solve serious issues in their community, or the horrors of war where fighters don’t know if they’ll live to see the next sunset, this is one of those books that feels truly unforgettable, and highlights the deep seated issues faced around the globe. Flock has done an incredible job here, and without a doubt this book deserves to be very wildly read.

Three women, all impacted by violence at the hands of men, are the topic of this book which, whilst well-researched, often suffers from too much detail.

The Stand Your Ground law was a new one on me, as we don’t have such a law in the UK. It seems to almost backfire and actually do more harm than good.

I must admit I didn’t find this easy to read, but that may be my frame of mind at the moment, as I seem to have been overloaded recently with books about abuse and exploitation of women. I may well return to it at some point.

The Furies tells the true stories of three women in different parts of the world who have used violence to stand up for their rights and survival. Brittany Smith, Angoori Dahariya and Cicek Mustafa Zibo are all fascinating, flawed and fearless characters, and I was impressed by Flock's in-depth journalism.

However, I got to the end of the book feeling as if I'd read three separate stories rather than one continuous piece. The theme of 'women, vengeance and justice' alone is not enough to tie these women together; I was hoping for a bit more analysis and context to stitch their stories into a global narrative, rather than just their separate spheres.

Award winning journalist Elizabeth Flock was inspired by her own experiences as a result of the justice denied her after an assault to write The Furies: Three Women and Their Violent Fight for Justice. The book focuses on three women who took violent action as a response to male misogyny, aggression and brutality, with Flock particularly interested in how their actions have impacted the women, and society at large.

Brittany Smith shot dead a man who she claimed raped and brutalised her in her own home, but was denied a self-defense (stand your ground) legal claim in Alabama. It’s a heartbreaking and infuriating story of a woman whom the deeply misogynistic court system refused to recognise as a victim.

Seething with fury after years of mistreatment, Indian woman Angoori Dahariya formed a gang, inspired by the notorious figure of Phoolan Devi (known as the ‘Bandit Queen’) primarily to avenge victims of domestic violence and exploitation. Her ‘Green Gang’, now numbered in the thousands, threatens and punishes men publicly armed only with sticks. It’s an inspiring example of female empowerment, but not without its pitfalls.

Kurd Cicek Mustafa Zibo is a member of the all-female militia, the Women’s Protection Unit or YPJ, a sister force to the larger YPG fighting for freedom as an ethnic minority among hostile forces, including ISIS. Never keen on tradition which dictated she focus on becoming a wife and mother, Cicek decided to take up arms at age 17. She was proud to join the revolution and eager to fight, proving to be a committed soldier who quickly rose through the ranks, but the death and loss took its toll.

Flock built a relationship with the women she features over a period of about three years, and her connection with them is evident in the intimate details of their moving stories. I generally found Flock’s writing engaging and informative. Her reporting seems well researched, and well contextualised, balancing fact and emotion.

I found The Furies to be a confronting read, but one I believe imparts important lessons that everyone can, and should, learn from.

I thought this was a really interesting concept to connect the discrete experiences of three women through the lens of female anger in response to gender based violence. I did feel that there was an imbalance in weight given to stories with the first woman’s story drastically outweighing the second and third story. I enjoyed the narrative nonfiction but did feel that the prose could have been tighter to avoid it dragging. However, I will definitely be recommending this to all the angry women I know.

An incredibly well researched non fiction that follows three women: Brittany in the US who killed her rapist, Angoori in India who leads a vigilante gang of women and Cicek in Syria who is a member of an all female militia fighting against ISIS.

The Furies follows the stories and backgrounds of these three women, their lives leading up to, during and after these events and how each felt it necessary to turn to violence in order to survive and change the patriarchal system they live under and which left them no other choice.

This book explored so many topics including the Stand Your Ground law and wether it ultimately harms women, the policing system across the world, the way addicts and imperfect victims are viewed and scrutinised, the rise in women being incarcerated and the link between trauma and abuse leading to violence and crime, discrimination, sexism, how women end up turning to eachother and vigilantes to fill in the break down of law and order and so much more!!

Highly recommend this and will be recommending it to people who don’t often pick up non fiction too as it’s super readable and doesn’t feel dense at any point (although check trigger warnings of course!!)

Unfortunately I had to dnf this due to the dv aspect which is obviously a personal view.

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc