Elizabeth Arnott on Secrets, Serial Killers’ Wives, and Female Friendship in Fiction

The story of serial killers often focuses on the killer, but Elizabeth Arnott’s novel, *The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives*, turns the narrative inside out. The novel, set in 1966, follows three wives connected to notorious killers. These women find themselves bound together by the determination to uncover who is behind a new series of murders, and, in so doing, reclaim their own stories. Arnott was drawn to stories of those adjacent to serial killers, such as families, wives, daughters, and sisters. She noticed that these women were often treated as silent bystanders without power or autonomy over their own lives. Arnott wanted to tell a story that would.

• Among the most overlooked figures are the wives and families left behind, those forced to confront the unimaginable realization that the person they loved lived a secret life.
• Set in 1966, at a moment when American society was shifting rapidly in its expectations of women, the novel follows three wives—Beverly, Margot, and Elsie—connected to notorious killers who find themselves bound together by the determination to uncover who is behind a new series of murders, and, in so doing, reclaim their own stories.
• When I started researching the real-life wives of serial killers, I became fascinated by them. What I noticed was that they are so often left without any sort of power or autonomy over their own lives.

Source: Crime Reads  | 
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