Wicked Wednesday – Controversial Female Characters

We’re in the theme of “the heat is on” since it’s August and still awesomely hot out! Today, let’s talk about the women who are not only fiery, but who aren’t “typical” women – meaning maybe they’re unlikeable, definitely controversial and just challenging the normal stereotype.

My new favorite controversial female characters is a semi-recurring character in suspense novelist Peter Swanson’s books, Lily Kintner. She isn’t a great person, by her own admission, yet she’s someone you find yourself rooting for regardless. At the risk of spoilers I won’t say more, but she’s a force.

Wickeds, what about you? Who’s your favorite controversial female character?

Julie: Liz, you know I’m a Lily fan as well. Like you, I won’t post a spoiler. But she’s really terrific. I’m also grateful you didn’t couch this as unlikeable, which is often a phrase used to describe challenging women. I just read a book, Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. The protagonist, Eleanor Dash, isn’t controversial per se, but the book has interesting first person narration, and Eleanor does not paint herself as a hero.

Edith/Maddie: I’m coming up empty on contemporary controversial female characters, but I can think of plenty in the historical mysteries I love. Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport reporter of a hundred years ago Emma Cross is related to the moneyed families but needs to earn a living – and solve crimes while she’s doing it. She drives her own buggy around town and gets a lot of negative reaction. My own midwife Rose Carroll similarly is an independent businesswoman and a controversial outsider, as is Nancy Herriman’s nurse/sleuth Celia Davies in her Old San Francisco mysteries.

Jessie: I love the Amelia Peabody novels by Elizabeth Peters. Her behavior is often not considered ladylike for her era. I would also add Stephanie Plum to the list as she is not the stereotypical bounty hunter. I think of Carol Jordan in the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan books by Val McDermid as, if not controversial, complicated and tough. Those qualities are not always easily accepted in women by many.

Barb: When I read, “controversial female character,” I immediately thought of Amy Elliott Dunne, the girl who is gone in Gone Girl. It’s hard to think of a more loathsome female psychopath. Though I’m not sure she’s “controversial” as such. She is pretty much universally hated. Some people hate all the characters in Gone Girl, but I found them more nuanced. Except for Amy.

Readers, who is your favorite controversial female character? Tell us in the comments!