The Furies by Elizabeth Flock

Women, Vengeance, and Justice

From the author of The Heart is a Shifting Sea comes a gripping new work in which Elizabeth Flock examines the lives of three real women who in the aftermath of abuse used violence to fight back.

The book opens in Stevenson, Alabama with the story of Brittany Smith. In 2018, Smith shot and killed the man she said raped her, but she was denied the protection of Stand Your Ground; a law that provides people use deadly force when they are defending themselves against certain crimes. Smith was indicted for murder, and if convicted, faced a sentence of twenty years to life. 

“Many judges are not trauma-informed,” writes Flock, “meaning that their rulings on domestic and sexual abuse cases often rely on their personal perceptions instead of the realities of violence.” 

Flock’s next subject is a woman named Angoori Dahariya, who was born into a Dalit family in Uttar Pradesh, India. Angoori was at home with her sons one day when her landlord showed up with a group of men. They forced entry, beating her and the boys, and their belongings were thrown outside her home.

“For centuries, Dalits, previously known as “untouchables,” had been deemed so lowly and impure as to be excluded from the four castes in India,” writes Flock. Angoori’s neighbours, who were from an upper caste, did not want her living there even though she’d paid for the land. 

This incident was pivotal for Angoori, and she wanted revenge. Inspired by female bandits like Phoolan Devi and Putli Bai, Angoori formed the Green Gang. The purpose of her group was taking on men who did poor women wrong. The Green gang, who used canes instead of guns to fight back, continued to grow in members and expanded to Rajasthan, Haryana, and New Delhi. 

The final subject is a young woman named Cicek who we encounter in Tal Tamir, Syria. Cicek grew up watching Syrian military parades on TV and although she’d never seen female soldiers, she dreamt of one day joining their ranks.

Destined to carve out her own life, Cicek, who “saw marriage as equivalent to becoming a servant,” learned of an all-female militia called the Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ. She signed up immediately, and went on to risk her life every day in the ongoing battle against ISIS. 

In The Furies, Flock’s research spans decades and continents, and here she presents the stories of three women from largely different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Yet, despite their differences, these women share one common goal, which is to rise up against the patriarchal systems that have for too long determined their fate. 

Elizabeth Flock by Beowulf Sheehan

Elizabeth Flock is an Emmy Award–winning journalist whose work has been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Atlantic, and on PBS NewsHour and Netflix, among other outlets. She is the host of Blind Plea, a podcast from Lemonada Media about criminalized survival. Her reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center, PEN America, and the International Women’s Media Foundation. Her first book, The Heart Is a Shifting Sea, won a Nautilus Book Award for books that inspire and make a difference. She lives in Chicago and Los Angeles.

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