Laura Elizabeth Woollett

The thrilling new novel, inspired by Jim Jones’s Peoples Temple, from the author of The Love of a Bad Man. It’s the summer of 1968, and Evelyn Lynden is a woman at war with herself. Minister’s daughter. Atheist. Independent woman. Frustrated wife. Bitch with a bleeding heart. Following her conscientious-objector husband Lenny to the rural Eden of Evergreen Valley, California, Evelyn wants to be happy with their new life. Yet as the world is rocked by warfare and political assassinations, by racial discrimination and social upheaval, she finds herself disillusioned with Lenny’s passive ways — and anxious for a saviour. Enter the Reverend Jim Jones, the dynamic leader of a revolutionary church called Peoples Temple. As Evelyn grows closer to Jones, her marriage is just the first casualty of his rise to power. Meticulously researched, elegantly written, and utterly engrossing, Beautiful Revolutionary explores the allure of the real-life charismatic leader who would destroy so many. In masterful prose, Woollett painstakingly examines what happens when Evelyn is pulled into Jones’s orbit — an orbit it would prove impossible for her to leave.

Beautiful Revolutionary

An electrifying short story collection about the wives, lovers, and mistresses of history's most notorious men.

The Love of a Bad Man

There's no such thing as a perfect victim. In a hotel room on a sleepy Pacific island, Judy Novak waits. And worries. It isn't the first time 29-year-old problem child Paulina has kept her mother waiting. But Judy can't ignore the island's jagged cliffs and towering pines -- or the dread that Paulina has finally acted on her threats to take her own life. When Paulina's body is discovered, Judy's worst fears seem confirmed. Only, Paulina didn't kill herself. She was murdered. So begins a thorny investigation, wherein every man on the island is a suspect yet none are as maligned as Paulina: the captivating newcomer known for her hard drinking, disastrous relationships, and habit of walking alone. But, above all, Paulina is her mother's daughter. And death won't stop Judy Novak from fighting for Paulina's life.

The Newcomer

Laurel Marks, seventeen, has a weakness for older men. After her father's sudden death, Laurel latches onto a new love-object: her English teacher, Hugh Steadman. Following an encounter in the woods, a flirtation develops between the two, marked by hopeful highs and suicidal lows on Laurel's part. Their romance is eventually consummated one November afternoon, in the arbor where they first met. But Laurel's middle-aged teacher proves to be a more violent lover than she ever anticipated....

The Wood of Suicides

A gripping novelisation of an infamous murder, by the author of Beautiful Revolutionary. Paulina is the captivating newcomer on a sleepy Pacific island, known for her hard drinking, disastrous relationships, and habit of walking alone. But now, in a hotel room on the island, her mother Judy Novak waits. And worries. She can't ignore the island's jagged cliffs and towering pines -- or the dread that Paulina has finally acted on her threats to take her own life. So when Paulina's body is discovered, Judy's worst fears are confirmed. Only, Paulina didn't kill herself. She was murdered. So begins a thorny investigation, wherein every man on the island is a suspect yet none are as maligned as Paulina. But even death won't stop Judy Novak from fighting for her daughter's life.

Laura Elizabeth Woollett

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