Books in brief
"Beware the Woman" by Megan Abbott; Flatiron Books (306 pages. $28.99)
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One compelling mystery in "Beware the Woman" is to whom the title refers. The main character? An ominous acquaintance of hers? All women?
When Jacy and her husband travel to the wilds of Michigan to visit Jed's father, Dr. Ash, there's a "Rebecca"-ish vibe to the thriller's events. Weird mentions of a departed woman (in this case, Mrs. Ash)? Check. Creepy housekeeper? Check. Female lead feels like she's always falling short? Check.
"Woman" gradually shifts gears, though, as Jacy senses there's something rotten in the state of Michigan. It starts with a visit to a general practitioner, who shares Jacy's medical history with her husband and father-in-law as if he's never heard of medical privacy. Soon, Jacy thinks she's being drugged and that the men of woodsy Michigan — where, naturally, there's no cellphone service — are keeping her there against her will.
Abbott, who has written 11 previous novels, isn't at peak form in "Woman," which isn't as ingenious as "You Will Know Me," but "Woman" fits comfortably with her other feminist updates of thriller tropes. As the men in Jacy's life insist that she'll have to stay in Michigan until she delivers, it becomes clear the novel is about nothing less than a woman's right to control her own body.
