Women Murdered by the Men They Loved

Bean ( Methods of Childbirth ), a health educator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, takes the lazy way out in her discussion of a vital subject. She initially establishes an important point: the killing of women by husbands and boyfriends is not an isolated occurrence but a regular event and should be seen in that context. However, she bases most of her analysis on several well-publicized cases, including those involving socialite Claus Von Bulow, Army doctor Jeffrey MacDonald and Boston con man Charles Stuart. Nearly half the book consists of rehashed press and book accounts of those cases. Moreover, the material is disorganized; in the early chapters Bean regularly cites data that appears later in the book. The author does provide some useful information on the history of violence against women and of women's dependence on male physicians. Also, she explains how sociopaths can seem normal, analyzes the cyclical nature of male violence and provides a checklist for signs of a controlling man. But one would be better off reading one of the bestsellers Bean cites as well as a more thorough book on violence against women. (July)