Unreasonable Women: Three Stories of Violence, Imprisonment, and Extraordinary Survival

by Justine van der Leun

Chosen as a Boston Globe Recommended Summer Read and CrimeReads Best True Crime Books of the Month

A groundbreaking account of how the legal system punishes those it purports to protect, told through the stories of three unforgettable women

When award-winning journalist Justine van der Leun began researching the issue of criminalized survival, she was astonished to see women being imprisoned for protecting themselves against abuse. This sparked an intensive, years-long investigation into how survivors are targeted for prosecution, leading her to collect more than a thousand personal accounts from women’s prisons across America.

In Unreasonable Women, van der Leun tells the propulsive, shocking, and intimate stories of three extraordinary women who, finding themselves caught in the direst circumstances, had to kill to survive. Tanisha is a spirited Michigan mother determined to help authorities solve a cold case, whatever the consequences. Jema is a softhearted Missouri factory worker struggling to keep her family together while navigating a dangerous relationship. TC is a bold Californian trying to escape generations of trauma and a toxic family environment. In each case, the women's childhood abuse was replicated in adulthood—until they were forced to make an impossible choice.

A work of literary reportage that reads like a crime novel, Unreasonable Women is the result of seven years of unprecedented research and on-the-ground reporting in U.S. prisons. It is the story of women and violence in America, a wake-up call about a broken system, and the moving narrative of three women who find hope and humanity in the unlikeliest of places.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, True Crime, History, Crime, Audiobook, Womens

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2026

About the author

Justine van der Leun is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including Unreasonable Women. She is also the host of the podcast Believe Her. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, New York Magazine, Harper’s, and The Guardian. Van der Leun has received fellowships from New America, the Emerson Collective, Type Media Center, and PEN America, among others. She lives in New York.

Reviews

[Traci Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is intense, thorough, tight, and so well reported. It’s a lot and very upsetting but it’s handled well. The author does a great job of presenting her subjects and the contradictions in her work/process. Very necessary.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is your nonfiction read of the year. I promise.
Women’s Prisons are full of abuse survivors. Women, who in self defense, committed an act of violence to survive and protect themselves or their loved ones from harm. To author and journalist, Justine van der Leun’s surprise, there was no data to back this up. So she decided to gather itself. She wrote to 10,000 women in prison across America, and received more than 1,000 letters back. She then hand coded those letters to understand what were the pathways to women in prison and their histories. Her responses showed at least 30% of women in prison for murder or manslaughter are criminalized survivors, meaning we are locking away thousands of women in prison for just trying to stay alive.

Through the stories of three women that stood out to her, we learn how many women end up in this very predicament. I was in awe while reading their stories. Leun humanizes these women by starting out sharing the commonality of their personal history which is filled with trauma and abuse. With this we understand that the failure of the system to protect women starts from birth and violence perpetrated against women by men is encoded in our country’s DNA. The depth of the storytelling, the historical context, the research, and the real life accounts documented in this book make it such an excellent, engaging and propulsive read.

I don’t know if I really gave much thought to how woman are criminalized for trying to survive, but this book really made me think about the seriousness of toxic masculinity and patriarchy. This one of the grave consequences of our lack of action against men who hurt women and children. This is hard, but necessary read and wake up call.

Let me know if you plan on picking this up!

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the most important nonfiction book I'll read this year. A difficult but compelling read. van der Leun follows three women incarcerated for murder even though they were actually protecting themselves after years of abuse. Tanisha Williams, Jema Heffernan, and TC Brooks's stories depict the toll of criminalized survival and how many people are complicit, from family members to the so-called justice system.

While their stories are hard to read at times (mind the CWs below), we cannot afford to ignore these women and the ripple effect of generational trauma. I hope the prosecutors in these cases are haunted by their actions and that this book leads to real change.


Content notes: child sexual abuse, incest, fatal abuse of children, child physical and emotional abuse, child neglect, grooming, human trafficking, rape, gang rape, rape culture, nonconsensual somnophilia, statutory rape, image-based sexual abuse (including photos uploaded to porn sites without consent and videotapes of nonconsensual somnophilia), victim-blaming, gaslighting, drug assault, intimate partner violence (physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, financial, coercive control), stalking, surveillance, child abduction, codependency, suicide, suicide attempts, bipolar disorder with psychotic features, self-harm, depression, anxiety, psychiatric hospitalization, PTSD, panic attack, substance abuse, alcoholism, drug trafficking, criminalized survival, murder (including in self-defense), attempted murder, physical assault, strangulation, fatal overdose, immolation, arson, incarceration, solitary confinement, capital punishment, police/guard abuse of power, police/guard violence, lacerations, skin burns, forced eye removal, dementia, STIs, kidney failure, ovarian cancer, precancerous condition of the cervix (related to HPV), hysterectomy, AIDS, COVID-19, ulcer, scabies, black mold, body and facial scars, vomit, impotency, penile implant, incontinence, defecation, misogyny, sexism, slut-shaming, kink-shaming, racism, racial slur, ableist slur (interview quote), ableism, transphobia (including trans men incarcerated in women's prison), homophobia, fatphobia, fatshaming, weight gain and loss, fasting, sex work, bullying, parental abandonment, family estrangement, forced family separation, foster care, death of loved ones (including tuberculosis, ovarian cancer, murder, and motorcycle accident), animal cruelty, police/judge/lawyer incompetence, divorce, parental divorce, infidelity, parental infidelity, poverty, theft, shoplifting, homelessness, military service and deployment, motorcycle gang initiation, wheelchair use, pregnancy, teen pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, alcohol, inebriation, underage drinking, marijuana, Xanax, cocaine, meth, opioids, heroin, cigarettes, gendered pejoratives, ableist language, hyperbolic language around suicide

[Maureen Grigsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent, but depressing look at several incarcerated women who had dealt with physical and sexual abuse from childhood. The cards were stacked against them in so many ways. When each of these women killed their abusers in order to survive, they were severely punished by the judicial system for not trying other methods to leave or stop the abuse. Kudos to the author for her amazing research into this broken system.

[lex ngu · Rating 5 out of 5]

the most important and heartbreaking book ive read this year.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Male violence is so insidious. Even breaking free from it as a women is a punishable offense

[vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a lot of care put into this book: researching, selecting the subjects, plus crafting a story that is both engaging and pinpoints how criminalized survival as framed by the author is connected to gender and law history. I learned some new things, though this is a subject I’ve read a lot of books about. The women are flawed and make upsetting decisions, but also were traumatized, disbelieved, and stuck. Ultimately, I really wanted to learn more about these subjects, and the way the author weaves their lives with everything else is very well done.

[Holly Dyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book! This is a hard one to read but so important and I couldn't put it down. This book focuses on Tanisha, Jema, and TC, three women who were incarcerated for committing acts out of survival and protecting themselves. These women dealt with abusive relationships, child abuse, sexual abuse, poverty, and more. Their lives were threatened by these men and they committed necessary acts for their survival. However, because of the criminal justice system and the limited protections for women dealing with abuse, they are known as "criminalized survivors" and have to deal with lengthy prison sentences. Justine van der Leun also collected surveys from incarcerated women all over the country and over a number of years, to compile the stories and the statistics around criminalized survival for women.

The book is so well-reported and well-written, and it feels like the reader is right there with the women. I was pulled in from page one and so immersed throughout. I was rooting for these women and also had my heart in my throat. While there are some notes of hope, overall the book is exposing and criticizing the criminal justice system in allowing victims of domestic violence to be treated as criminals. The lack of protections and the loopholes are pretty enraging. This will be a standout read for me.

Thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Marybeth ❤️ · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Good Lord, that was a very depressing read. I appreciate the research and effort that went into this book, and I do agree that it should be read widely. It’s still one of the more harrowing reads for me this year

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for choosing me to read and review this book. "Unreasonable Women" is an astounding, heartbreaking and an absolutely necessary book to read. These three women touched my heart. This world is so complicated, difficult and often unforgiving. Our legal system needs to be fixed. Everybody, please read this book.

[Haley Kavelak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang this was tough to read but so relevant. These brave women chose to live and they were punished for it.

“What separates free women from those in the inside is not good choices and superior character, but simply luck, circumstance, and means. The women in this book exist on the same spectrum as the rest of us.”

It’s time that things change.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic but is a very hard hitting book that stayed with me after I read it. This book discusses women who were driven to commit crimes due to abuse and how the system failed them. It's a very eye-opening book that is phenomenal. If you enjoy reading true crime, this is a must-read! I highly recommend this! Special Thank You to Justine van der Leun, Ecco and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Clare Gullekson · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was very hard to read - it's really dark, not very hopeful, and includes graphic / blunt descriptions of abuse. it's also enraging to read and to realize how many women, especially poor and black women, live with this reality. but it's also so well written and propulsive. van der Luen reported on these women's lives so well - she was straightforward and unbiased and covered so much. her choice to cover three women was the perfect amount

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook. This book is so good (and sad, heartbreaking, rage-inducing, etc). I had heard about a story like this in the news and I didn’t realize it’s so common. But, of course it is.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because Josie Duffy Rice recommended it and I love her work covering the American criminal justice system. Oh man, this was one of the most brutally difficult books I have ever read but I also couldn’t put it down and read most of it on Saturday while hiding from the heat wave. Justine van der Leun spent many years corresponding with over a thousand women who were imprisoned for committing an act of violence in self defense against their abusers. But the book mainly focuses on three women, while also peppering in quotes from many others as well as their families and people involved with their cases. It’s a book about survival and about how the state perpetuates endless cycles of abuse. It’s incredibly well written and well reported. The author is also honest about the doubts and contradictions she felt while embarking on this work, but she makes sure to make these women and their stories the main focus throughout.

If you consider The New Jim Crow to be required reading (and you should), this book should be on your list as well. I hope its reach is vast and that it wins all of the awards.

[Christie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh this book. I do not mean that in any negative way. This book was so hard to read but I couldn't stop reading it. It was a triggering, hard to read, well-written book that unflinchingly shows how women are still viewed as disposable in America. It shows why women don't speak up about abuse or domestic violence, how dangerous it is for a woman to survive and how the justice system fails women, again and again and again. I give Justine van der Leun so much credit for writing this book the way she did. She did not hold back, she did not sugarcoat. She changed some names to protect some of the women she interviewed, but other than that, everything was shone under a bright light for all to see. The sad part is, the people who need to read this probably won't.

Working in corrections also gave me a different perspective than I might have had otherwise. I urge anyone reading this review to pick up this book, read it and get reviews out there. Nothing changes until we change it.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably scrupulous and empathy-driven reporting. The combination of personal narratives, reported background and sociological studies cited here is pitch-perfect. An incredibly difficult read at points — Justine van der Leun does not spare the reader from descriptions of the unthinkable domestic violence that these women and the generations of women that preceded them have faced, but none of it felt gratuitous to me. Instead I felt the weight of their pain so deeply and was better equipped to understand the injustices they had been served.

“In each case profiled in this book, influential strangers insisted a woman’s life had been different than she knew it was, than how she had lived it. A deliberate choice was made to treat her as a criminal, a choice that follows the path of least resistance in a carceral system that rewards simplistic binaries over complex humanity.”

[Bunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book I only wanted to take issue with society's and the justice system's treatment of women, not the author's as well.
There are some shortcomings in this book which feel insidious.
While reporting someone else's story you obviously use the words they do, but in the commentary and analysis part you should use the proper terms and examine what was said. Too many times the word "sex" was used when it should have been "rape" (like what do you mean "he had sex with her when she was 7"??) and every time someone says "the only/real abuser in this house was the mother" (even though they often didn't know and/or were abused themselves, and later there is a lot of focus on how hard it is for women with children to leave - which feels like condemning one generation of women while explaining the same struggle for the next) is left without comment.
Abuse is also left without comment, mostly just presented as a list of happenings one had to endure but came to an end. There is one instance where constant anal rape is linked to incontinence, but that's about it. With how matter of factly abuse is presented, I would have liked to at least get a passing remark about long-term harm. In one instance, a woman trained herself to pass out quickly and not struggle because her husband's "favored technique of abuse" is strangulation, and there is no note how this links to brain damage or strokes, which would have helped put into perspective how physical abuse has long-term consequences rather than "just" bruises and black eyes that will fade.

Also why does every feminist writer get to be labelled just so, but Dworkin is immediately branded as "polarizing" upon introduction?

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book. I read about a quarter and had to stop due to content. I hope to finish it one day. May read 75 pages at a time with a break in between. It definitely fortified my desire to protect girls and young women, so they can grow into their own people instead of a receptacle for men.

[kami czech · Rating 5 out of 5]

a really heavy read but also extremely eye opening. another reminder that there are many sides to a story and especially when it comes to the legal system, things aren't so black and white, so important to listen and be open minded before judging. would definitely recommend !!

[Heather Grose · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7 wow. Different book to read due to difficult subject matter. Well researched and written.

[Abby Walhout]

Almost unbearable to read at moments, but so well researched and written

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

There aren’t enough expletives in the world. Throw this whole damn country away

[Anneke Mcdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good and well researched but a hard hard read, heavy subject matter so be mentally prepped for a hard book

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastating follow-on read for those who appreciated Brian Goldstone's There is No Place for Us.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher, via Netgalley, for an advance e-galley for honest review.

This is infuriating, heartbreaking, and brutal to read, but the experiences of the women featured in the story and what they have endured in the name of survival is essential reading. The author's research into criminalized survival was inspired by the case of Nikki Addimando, and knowing that was what made me pick up this book, as I had read about that case in her sister's book and found it also essential and enraging. The women's experiences covered in this book happen in different decades, but this goes to further show that there has been far too little advancement in the criminal justice system's understanding of the effects of abuse and trauma.

[K.B. reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I asked Jacobsen what Tanisha should have done, back in 2005. “Her choice was she should die,” Jacobsen said. “Or prison. That’s it.””

This book was powerful, gut wrenching, informative, heart breaking, infuriating, and exactly the type of non-fiction that should be on everyone’s “must read” list. In the wake of The Epstein Files, sex trafficking, pedophilia, domestic violence and mental health epidemics, these are the eye opening real life stories that everyone needs to hear. While every one covers their eyes and wonders why all of the above crimes are so prevalent in our society, this is why. Violence against women is over looked and ignored and often the only way to escape is to be killed.

I hope this book gets the attention it deserves and I hope Tanisha does as well.

5 stars

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it would be easy for the harrowing stories of the three women in this book to blend into each other, but van der Leun does such an excellent job of weaving the stories together while still keeping the women distinct. The horrors that the women in this book experience are so unfathomable and upsetting, but reading about them never felt sensationalized or exploitative. An excellent — if triggering — book. Highly recommend if you have the stomach for it.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exhausting, ugly and horrifying read - in a good sense though. The book looks at how women are incarcerated because laws supposed to protect women actually protect me and how abusive stories are not believed because of the belief the woman should have left. Back in the 19th and 20th Cs you could just institutionalize women, in the 21st C you do this through criminalizing them. This is a must read “for anyone who cares about women and justice.

I listened to this book. It starts off with the story of Nikki Addimando convicted of murdering her boyfriend after years of traumatic abuse. After her sentencing she told the court “I was afraid to stay, afraid to leave, afraid no one would believe me, afraid of losing everything.” That pretty much sums up the stories of the three women the author chose to use in her study of incarcerated women. But even when the abuse - some going back to the family- is told, the prosecution portrayed these women as evil, conniving and a drain on society. This became incomprehensible to me as I listened to their stories - no person (man, woman or child) should have to endure such a life. But somehow the prosecution’s portrayal of the dark evil woman lurking beneath the facade of the woman on trial won over the jury. It was also heart wrenching to listen to how these women hungered to return to their children and while not condoning what they did, they also accepted it as fate - at some point I believe they thought I can no longer endure this.

The author details her study and gives background on the rationale for it. She reached out to every state’s penal department to ask for their participation in her study - the response was mixed and sometimes took a while. But we learn even she became exhausted and overwhelmed by the stories of these women. For the most part the women who did respond were pretty honest and forthright, a few tried to con her out of money but those she wrote about had a grim honesty.

The author looks at the laws on the books at the time of these women’s trials and after. While reforms were made, any change was not enough to protect the woman. The fifth commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill, regardless the why, is the law of the land. And definitely a man’s life - abusive as he is - is worth more in the eyes of the law.

In conclusion I say bravo for Gavin Newsome in pardoning a woman who was incarcerated due to her abuse and the murder of her abuser and shame on Gretchen Whitmer for not. I do not condone murder but I have great empty for these women - life was stacked against them: poor in pity, home life and abuse - many of these can’t get a fair chance. More compassion is needed. Highly recommend.

[Hannah Laff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down the best nonfiction book I will read this year, if not of all time.

van der Leun explores the depth of our misogynistic, racist, classist, and deeply broken justice system through the stories of women criminalized for their survival. She takes her time exploring the generational trauma that shaped these women’s lives, thoroughly researching the backgrounds of their parents and grandparents. It was eye opening and heartbreaking to see just how deeply trauma can be passed down through generations.

She also explores the ways our system repeatedly fails victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. How women are not believed. How the justice system is, in so many ways, built around the experiences and perspectives of men. How our prison system can further dehumanize and traumatize people who have already experienced unimaginable trauma. And, perhaps most importantly, what a difference we could make if we took even a small portion of the billions of dollars we spend on our justice system and invested it in prevention and support instead.

I will carry these women’s stories in my heart forever. Tanisha, Jema, and TC. ❤️ I am absolutely devastated that Tanisha is still incarcerated to this day. Her story is one of the clearest examples of how profoundly our justice system can fail a victim, and she deserves freedom.

This book fundamentally changed the way I think about domestic violence, sexual violence and the mass incarceration of women.

This was genuinely life changing for me. A heartbreaking, eye opening, and incredibly important book. A must read for everyone.