Sheila Isenberg is the author of the groundbreakingWomen Who Love Men Who Kill (Simon & Schuster - 2nd Edition Diversion Books); A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry (Random House); and Muriel’s War: An American Heiress in the Nazi Resistance (Palgrave Macmillan). She is co-author with the late William M. Kunstler of My Life As A Radical Lawyer (Birch Lane Press) and collaborator on The Life and Times of Ron Brown, A Memoir by Tracey L. Brown (William Morrow).
Thirty years after first asking the question, “Why do women fall in love with convicted murderers?,” author and journalist Sheila Isenberg answers it anew—in our age of the internet, smart phones, social media, mass shootings, celebrity worship of murderers, and modern prison dating. This updated edition of WOMEN WHO LOVE MEN WHO KILL: 35 True Stories of Prison Passion (Diversion Books; October 19, 2021; $17.99 Hardcover; ISBN 9781635768091) is a compelling psychological study of prison passion in the new millennium, perfect for fans of true crime.
Through extensive research and interviews with women who seek relationships with convicted killers through snail and e-mail, and in conversation with psychiatrists, social workers, and prison officials, Isenberg sheds light on why these women are drawn into relationships with incarcerated outcasts.
Many of the women vulnerable to these relationships know exactly what they are getting into. But they are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of a love without hope or promise, or consummation. In these pages, meet:
The young women writing “fan fiction” featuring America’s most sadistic murderers;
Chris Watts, the killer serving consecutive life sentences for strangling his wife and smothering his toddler daughters—and the women who send him love letters;
Christie Smythe, the high-powered journalist who fell in love and risked it all for “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli; and
Many other women absorbed in online and real-life dalliances with their killer men.
Updated and revised since its original 1991 publication, this second edition of Women Who Love Men Who Kill includes gripping new case studies and an absorbing look at how the digital age is revolutionizing this phenomenon.
—Sheila Weller, bestselling author of Girls Like Us:
Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon—And the Journey of a Generation
Chantal Deravin, author, Le Corps Révélé, Paris
Sheila Isenberg is the author of the groundbreaking Women Who Love Men Who Kill (Simon & Schuster, October 2021, Diversion Books); A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry (Random House); and Muriel’s War: An American Heiress in the Nazi Resistance (Macmillan). She is co-author with the late William M. Kunstler of My Life As A Radical Lawyer (Birch Lane Press) and collaborator on The Life and Times of Ron Brown, A Memoir (William Morrow). Look for her newest book, an updated and expanded edition of Women Who Love Men Who Kill (Diversion Books) in October 2021.
Sheila Isenberg has been interviewed often by national and international media, and has appeared in several documentaries. A member of the Authors’ Guild, PEN, and Women Writing Women’s Lives, she is the recipient of fellowships and grants, including one from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
