Dirty Weekend (Hardcover)

This book is only for those with a dark sense of humour, and a willingness to look unflinchingly at the underbelly of misogyny and its repurcussions. It is a work of fiction, but oh, how many of us wish we could have our own Dirty Weekends!

What some of the book's detractors may fail to realize is that Bella only metes out justice to those men who assault/invade/abuse her; the predatory neighbor, the wolverine punter in the car park, etc....she never goes looking for trouble; rather, it comes to her and she spits in its ugly face.

To understand this book, you must understand (and, mostly likely, have first hand experience) with the way in which women are constantly deluged with the inappropriate (at best) and predatory (at worst) attentions of unsavory men. By the time most women are 21, they have been subjected to everthing from catcalls, obscene phone calls, being grabbed, being humiliated, and even being raped - with very little public acknowledgement of this subjugation, and continued messages to men that this is acceptable behavior (not rape, of course, but other types of unsolicited attention). The natural result of this is RAGE.

Of course, nice girls do not angry. Nice girls do not raise their voices. Nice girls do not make a fuss. And nice girls certainly do not bludgeon their neighbors with hammers. Except. Bella does. And we stand by and cheer Bella on. Bella, who's had enough.

If you are lucky enough not to have experienced violence in your life you may find it hard to see past the brutality of much of the story. An abused dog will bite, what should we expect of a maltreated woman?

Zahavi creates a murky world in which everyone and everything is a threat to Bella; people, words, even the environment works against her. The plot moves quickly without requiring excuses for itself.

All in all I think this book is thought provoking, empowering, dismaying and sobering all at the same time.

Despite being sickened by all of the violence, you can't help but reveling in Bella's triumphs: why CAN'T she just sit in the park undisturbed by some man's comments? Why CAN'T she walk on the boardwalk without some man following her? And why SHOULDN'T she fight back?

The message: next time you see a woman minding her own business -- next time you see a Bella -- just walk on by and leave her alone.