'This is the story of Bella, who woke up one morning and realised she'd had enough...'
So begins Dirty Weekend, the powerful, unforgettable story of an ordinary girl who overcomes her fear and transforms herself from victim to avenger. Trapped in a basement flat, terrorized by a predatory neighbour, over the course of a single and very dirty weekend she goes out in the night and kills seven men and one myth.
The men make the mistake of attacking her. The myth is that only women bleed.
Dark, violent and brutally funny, Dirty Weekend was hugely controversial when first published in 1991. Although it polarized the critics on release, it went on to be translated into thirteen languages, became a UK and European bestseller, and was made into a feature film by Michael Winner, the director of Death Wish. Blackly comic, hugely violent and wholly original, it still retains its impact today.
Reviews
- A literary turning point - Naomi Wolf, New Statesman & Society
- A dark and brilliant book - James Runcie, The Daily Telegraph
- Spare and stylish - Literary Review
- The literary sensation of the year - Alex Kershaw, City Limits
- Glinting, rapier wit - Publishers Weekly
- A slim, sharp stiletto of a book - Jim McClellan, i-D Magazine
- I can still remember the visceral shock I felt as a young single woman reading Helen Zahavi's first novel - Louise Doughty, Wall Street Journal
- Stylized thuggery. The effect is stunning - Marie Claire
- Zahavi upset a lot of people when this book was published. Not surprisingly, really. You can't break taboos and expect people to like you for it. Her story is one of sexual violence, perversion and murder, but it is also terribly funny, with some marvellous dialogue - The Sunday Times
- Don't come looking for Jane Austen, but if you can stand the ride you may enjoy Zahavi's free-skating wit on very thin ice - Nick Marston, GQ
- Deadpan in style, shocking in content. Every moral and emotional preconception is subjected to a literary assault and battery. The polished rhythms and frightening finesse of the prose leave you stunned - The Daily Telegraph
- Taut prose, black humour and a confrontational style make this a challenging and terrifyingly funny first novel - Time Out
- If Oscar Wilde had written Death Wish, it would read like Dirty Weekend. This is a brave, brilliant and beautiful book. I wish I had written it - Julie Burchill