If Love Could Kill: The Myths and Truths of Women Who Commit Violence -- Anna Motz, Hardcover

A groundbreaking work by an internationally acclaimed forensic psychotherapist that looks at women who commit extreme acts of violence and cruelty and at the underlying oppression and abuse often at the heart of these crimes

Women can be murderers and child abusers. They can commit acts of extreme and sadistic brutality. And those who do, are outcasts from society and from womanhood itself. They are seen as monsters and angels of death: and must be kept at a safe distance.

Anna Motz is a renowned clinical and forensic psychologist in London and New York. Writing with candor, compassion, and a clear-eyed perspective, she explores in depth the shockingly underexamined psychological underpinnings of female violence. Far from the heartless and inhuman monsters we might believe them to be, these women are often victims of a culture of violence and emotional trauma.

Already hailed as a landmark, Motz's daring book, bursting with humanity, makes clear that women's violence is more widespread than most realize, that these acts of violence expose deeply held, centuries-old beliefs about women and their value, and that these acts demand to be taken more seriously as a distinctive societal taboo that can--and must--be brought into the light.

Author: Anna Motz
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 02/06/2024
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780593534151

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/01/2023 pg. 68
Publishers Weekly 12/04/2023
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2023
Booklist 01/01/2024 pg. 11

About the Author
ANNA MOTZ was born in Oxford, England, and raised in New York City. She received a degree in psychology from Oxford University. She lives and works in Oxfordshire as a consultant clinical and forensic psychologist and psychotherapist for Central and North West London NHS Trust, providing specialist consultation, assessment, and treatment for high-risk women, in partnership with His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service. Motz is a member of the Advisory Board for Female Offenders, under the UK Ministry of Justice.