Description: An in-depth study of the cultural figure of the stepmother from a global perspective.
Brief description: Jo Parnell is Researcher and Honorary Lecturer in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries, and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia.
Review Quotes: Dr. Parnell's superbly curated volume offers a rich, multinational, and interdisciplinary examination of a figure long maligned in narratives spanning from ancient Greek tragedy to twenty-first-century cinema. Each chapter situates the enduring tropes of the cruel, lustful, and at times even nurturing stepmother within their broader cultural, legal, and social contexts, ultimately revealing the common force that sustains these stereotypes: patriarchy.
Julie Anne Taddeo, Research Professor of History, University of Maryland, USA