The Women Are Not Fine

The Dark History of a Poisonous Sisterhood

Hope Reese

$55

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

BRAZEN
14 October 2025

True crime; True stories: discovery, historical & scientific; True stories of heroism, endurance & survival

'Such a compelling account of a small but significant dark corner of history... Profound, angry, and tender all at once' VIRGINIA FEITO, author of Victorian Psycho and Mrs March

'A meticulously researched and sensitively rendered portrait of a community of women' ERIN KEANE, author of Runaway: Notes on the Myths That Made Me

'Hope Reese has sleuthed out a riveting, remarkable true story that raises questions like the best dystopian fiction' PEGGY ORENSTEIN, author of Girls & Sex

'A moving story of desperation, violence and survival' HELEN LEWIS, author of Difficult Women

'A feat of investigative reporting . . . This book proves that our past is present' ELIZABETH FLOCK, New Yorker writer and author of The Furies

'Enthralling . . . A fascinating read' STEPHANIE COONTZ, author of Marriage, a History

'Hugely well-researched - an intriguing (and thoughtful) antidote to stereotypes about gendered violence.' GINA RIPPON, author of The Gendered Brain

The dark history of a poisonous sisterhood

The women of Nagyrev are desperate.

They're abused by their husbands.

They are feeding their newborns to livestock.

At the turn of the 20th century, in the village of Nagyrev, Hungary, midwife Zsuzsanna Fazekas was more than a caretaker - she was a confidante. She helped poor women give birth; she assisted them with abortions; and she listened. Their stories were the same: husbands who drank, who beat them, who made their lives unbearable.

In response, Auntie Zsuzsi asked one question: ""Why bother with them?""

Her solution was arsenic. Soon, women began slipping this concoction, made by dissolving flypaper in water, into their husbands' porridge, stews, and brandy. And over the next twenty years, the quiet village became the epicenter of one of the deadliest poisoning epidemics of the 20th century - according to some estimates, up to 300 people in the region were murdered.

Why did they do it? How did these murders spin out of control? How did these women get away with their crimes for two decades?

In The Women Are Not Fine, journalist Hope Reese pieces together archival newspapers, court documents, police records, and the vital work of historians, sociologists, and psychologists, diving deep into the truth behind this extraordinary event. Her findings serve as a stark warning: when women in a community are pushed to the brink, the consequences reverberate through history.

The Women Are Not Fine is more than a true crime story. It's a timely, haunting exploration of what happens whe

By: Hope Reese
Imprint: BRAZEN
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 154mm, Spine: 26mm
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9781840918403
ISBN 10: 1840918403
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 14 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Hope Reese is a journalist writing for the New York Times, Shondaland, Vox and dozens of other publications covering subjects ranging from culture to politics to technology. She is published in the collection Where Freedom Starts: Sex Power Violence #MeToo (Verso Books). The Women Are Not Fine is her first book.

Reviews for The Women Are Not Fine: The Dark History of a Poisonous Sisterhood

'A meticulously researched and sensitively rendered portrait of a community of women' -- Erin Keane * author of Runaway: Notes on the Myths That Made Me * 'Hope Reese has sleuthed out a riveting, remarkable true story that raises questions like the best dystopian fiction' -- Peggy Orenstein * author of Girls & Sex * 'An enthralling account of how a group of poor rural women got away with poisoning family members for nearly two decades - and what their story may reveal about gender and violence. A fascinating read.' -- Stephanie Coontz * author of Marriage, a History * 'A moving story of desperation, violence and survival.' -- Helen Lewis * author of Difficult Women * 'A feat of investigative reporting, THE WOMEN ARE NOT FINE is a powerful sociological analysis and so illuminating of the issues of our time . . . This book proves that our past is present' -- Elizabeth Flock * New Yorker writer and author of The Furies * 'Hugely well-researched - an intriguing (and thoughtful) antidote to stereotypes about gendered violence. Meet the Hungarian 'angel makers' and learn how a persecuted collective can fight back (with a little help from their fly papers).' -- Gina Rippon * author of The Gendered Brain * 'Such a compelling account of a small but significant dark corner of history... Profound, angry, and tender all at once' -- Virginia Feito * author of Victorian Psycho and Mrs March * 'A meticulous examination of a little-known case of collective female violence in early 20th-century Hungary. Through archival research and a modern lens, Hope Reese uncovers how war, poverty, and unspoken domestic abuse shaped the lives --and lethal choices-- of the women of Nagyrév. The result is a stark meditation on gender, survival, and our enduring cultural fascination with so-called 'black widow' narratives.' -- Rose Hackman * author of Emotional Labor *