The debut adult novel by British-American young adult author Alexia Casale is a black comedy with a serious subject at its heart – domestic violence. Although inspired by the horrific statistics concerning violence against women in the UK, the record in Ireland is no prettier. Women’s Aid says one in four women in Ireland who have been in a relationship have been abused by a current or former partner.
Casale, who also works as a nonfiction editor focused on human rights and violence against women, wrote this novel “in an attempt to use humour to cut through people’s reluctance to engage” with a topic that is often still taboo, despite how endemic the issue is across all strata of society.
To do this, the author has deliberately created a completely implausible plot that enables readers to embrace the dark comedy that would be impossible with a more realistic premise. Casale has conjured up four women in the same town who, during lockdown when domestic violence soared, each kill their husbands in self-defence. Coincidence brings them together and they form the “Lockdown Ladies’ Burial Club” in order to plot how they can dispose of the bodies.
In a detailed author’s note at the end of the novel, Casale offers meaningful context for the creative choices she made with the narrative. Her trauma-informed approach means the reader is spared scenes of gratuitous violence and instead the focus is on the experience of the victim, rather than the abuser. This is a welcome respite from the gruesome tropes that so often prevail in literature where women are the victims of horrific assaults.
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The extent of explanation by Casale perhaps speaks to an anxiety on the part of the author that readers will not understand the nuance in the humour, accept her authority to write such a diverse cast of characters or appreciate fully the dire foundations upon which this story is built.
A truly successful novel should stand on its own feet without the author holding its hand. Nonetheless, the novel manages to avoid becoming too didactic through its strong characterisation, particularly of the protagonist Sally, who murders her husband with a skillet. Overall the novel achieves its mission to use comedy to shine a light on the darkest of subjects with great empathy for the women at its centre.
