My Life as a Villainess – Laura Lippman

My Life as a Villainess is a collection of essays written by crime novelist, Laura Lippman.

Over the past number of years, I’ve grown to enjoy essay collections.  I admire people who can let others into their personal lives.  It takes a great deal of courage to be so open about yourself, especially when you’ve done things that you may not be proud of.  It isn’t a gossip thing – I don’t need to know the sordid details of the lives of every public figure (although, I have been known to watch TMZ, so sue me), but I do appreciate it when someone I admire shares the frustration behind their craft, or the moments in their lives where they were wrong.

With My Life as a Villainess, Laura Lippman isn’t producing a full narrative of her life.  Instead, she muses on topics like family, her early years as a newspaper reporter and becoming a mother at age fifty.  She also writes about friends she has lost over the years due to her own failings.  She writes about the tragic loss of her friend Rob Hiaasen, one of the many victims of the Capital Gazette shooting in June of 2018.   These aren’t fluff pieces, they’re deeply personal moments in her life where she struggles with being an “old mother” and the challenges that go hand-in-hand with aging.

For fans of Laura’s husband, David Simon, there is a great essay that closes the collection all about The Wire.  Laura goes season-by-season discussing the show’s immense popularity and critical acclaim.

My Life as a Villainess is an intimate look at Laura’s life, warts and all.  If you’re a fan of her fictional work, I can see you enjoying this as well.