Stories of abuse

April 16, 2012 6:04 PM

Looking for good short stories or essays about abusive relationships

I'm particularly interested in stories of emotional more than just physical abuse, and not just of men against women either. The point of view can be either from the abuser or the victim, or even third person, but I'm curious what good writing has been done in this area.

posted by princeoftheair to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Dorothy Allison writes eerily powerful stories about abuse (emotional, sexual, etc.), and other topics. Bastard out of Carolina, Cave Dweller, you name it.
posted by anya32 at 6:17 PM on April 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Ray Bradbury - Interval in Sunlight, maybe?
posted by martinrebas at 7:11 PM on April 16, 2012

Alice Munro is one of my favorite short story writers and has done some excellent writing touching on this. Try Vandals from her collection titled "Open Secrets" or the title story from the book "Runaway".
posted by ReBoMa at 7:21 PM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Dragonslippers
posted by Wordwoman at 8:37 PM on April 16, 2012

Joyce Carol Oates: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:38 PM on April 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

A lot of Raymond Carver's work covers this ground.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 10:41 PM on April 16, 2012

A Child Called It.
posted by emilynoa at 5:33 AM on April 17, 2012

Brainscan zine #21 (non-fiction, not sure if that's what you're looking for)
posted by momus_window at 11:41 AM on April 17, 2012

A Jury of Her Peers
posted by LonnieK at 12:20 PM on April 17, 2012