Cathy and several others have mentioned being tired of domestic thrillers; usually the plots are pretty interchangeable. Below is an excerpt from a letter written in 1677 illustrating the long tradition of unhappy and turbulent marriages. A little research revealed that the two deserved each other, but Marguerite Louise was seriously unhappy:
You are driving me into such a state of despair that no hour of the day passes when I do not desire your death and wish that you were hanged. What aggravates me most of all is that we shall both go to the devil and then I shall have the torment of seeing you even there. I swear by what I loathe above all else—that is yourself—that I shall make a pact with the devil to enrage you and to escape your madness. Enough is enough. I shall engage in any extravagance I so wish in order to bring you unhappiness. If you think you can get me to come back to you, this will never happen, and if I did come back to you, beware! Because you would never die but by my hand.
Marguerite Louise D’Orleans | Letter to her estranged husband, Cosimo III De Medici, 1677 | The Medici Women
I almost feel guilty that I laughed when she said that the only thing keeping her from killing her husband was her fear that she would then have to live with him in hell for doing so. Sadly, that may be the only thing keeping a lot of people alive these days, too.
ReplyDeleteThey were both pretty awful characters. In that since, they deserved each other! :)
DeleteWhat a letter! If I could find a domestic thriller written that well I'd totally read it. :D
ReplyDeleteHistorical and arranged marriages would provide some interesting domestic thrillers. As tired as I am of the sub-genre, I would read a DT based on Cosimo and Marguerite Louise!
DeleteI laughed so hard at this but I don't think I was supposed to? 😄
ReplyDeleteIt made me laugh,too. Doubt Cosimo laughed, though!
DeleteOh my! What a fiery letter! There's no question about how she really feels about him. :D
ReplyDeleteShe really didn't like him!
DeleteExcellent! It just shows that truly there is "there is nothing new under the sun." It also makes me think about how Sue Grafton said she started writing mysteries because she was thinking of ways she could murder her ex-husband.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love that anecdote about Sue Grafton!
DeleteOh wow, now that is some letter! I agree with Lark, if we could get a domestic thriller written like this, then I want to read it!
ReplyDelete