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This book opens by Anna Motz attributing her indebtedness to Estela Welldon's pioneering publication, Mother, Madonna, Whore , while Welldon, within the Foreword of this publication, presents Motz as exceptional in her contribution to this field. We are told that Motz, a former student of Welldon's, is a ‘clinician of genuine brilliance and courage’ and that her investigation into the roots of female violence is both ‘intellectually substantial and highly readable’ (p. xi). This confident recommendation, applauding Motz's combination of accessibility and originality, in mapping this least discussed aspect of human violence, is certainly well founded. For to be confronted with Motz's dedication to those women who break the ultimate code brings us to consider the harsh reality of the female perpetrator.
Three perspectives of female violence are covered: violence against children, violence against the self and violence against others. Each section is investigated theoretically and clinically with the use of case material as a basis for discussion. This format fulfils Motz's ambition, namely, to provide