Necessary Women

by Karin Slaughter, Kathleen Early (Narrator)

Length: 20 minutes.

She was 14 when she watched mother die. With her mother gone, her father told her she had to be the woman of the house. And then he went away for six months. Now she's got a surprise for him.

This short story by New York Times best-selling author Karin Slaughter is taken from the exclusive audiobook collection The Unremarkable Heart and Other Stories.

Genres: Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Mystery

Audible Audio

First published January 30, 2015

About the author

Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular storytellers. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty- five novels, including the Edgar nominated COP TOWN and standalone novels PRETTY GIRLS and FALSE WITNESS. An international bestseller, Slaughter is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. PIECES OF HER, based on her novel, debuted at #1 worldwide on Netflix as an original series in 2022. Her bestselling thriller series, Will Trent, is now a television and streaming sensation in its 4th season. THE GOOD DAUGHTER will soon be a limited series starring Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy, and further projects are currently in development for film/TV. Karin Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.

Facebook: Facebook.com/AuthorKarinSlaughter

Website: http://www.karinslaughter.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinslaugh...

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

12/14/2015 Re-Read:
I re-read this super short story while reading Karin Slaughter's short-story collection: Three Twisted Stories. Yes, this story feels just as twisted the second time around!

08/12/2015:
Imagine my surprise when the library audiobook I downloaded ended after only twenty minutes! Yes, that's how short Necessary Women is. I loved it though and I want to read more!

In this very brief story, author Karin Slaughter manages to incorporate some pretty dark issues related to abandonment, incest, secrets, and twisted murder. The story is told through the perspective of a fourteen-year-old girl, and for such a short story, it felt pretty haunting. Couldn't help but love the super dark elements! I just ate it up hehe

I would recommend Necessary Women, but maybe try it as part of an anthology instead as a standalone experience like I did. I listened while doing some yard work, and then when the audio was over, I was so stunned I didn't quite know what to do...I just stood there with a pair of hedge clippers in my hands wondering what the hell just happened. I've never read Karin Slaughter before, so if anything, this story has me very intrigued about a new-to-me author. Check it out!

Necessary Women can be found as a standalone audiobook and also in the following collections (as of August 2015):

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story 3 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Kathleen Early

[Pani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wait. WTF?!

[Siobhan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got my hands on this short story through Three Twisted Stories.

This one is a mere handful of pages in which we see inside the mind of a young girl who has been dealt a lousy set of cards. In my opinion, the only real Slaughter vibe is through how we come to understand the character.

Actually, that’s not quite true. There is talk of rape. Everyone knows we cannot have a Slaughter book without one of the females being a victim of rape (it is her go to when trying to add more to a character and is usually unnecessary as in my eyes are her females are always wonderful, but that is neither here nor there and a personal rant of mine).

As much as I hate to do it, I did not enjoy this short story at all and had to give it one star.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um, so this VERY short story packed a huge punch. I don’t know what it says about me that I wished it was a little longer because I fee like there was so much more to the story.... but very well done.

[Amber Chance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gross. But also sad. But still gross.

[Anita O'brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, shocking, very disturbing but amazingly well done.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but chilling

[sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

“Why don’t you invite her over next Sunday? We can have her for dinner.”
This quote might just be the biggest mind fuck ever omg
amazing 20 pages

WTF DID I JUST READ I LOVE IT

[Leslie Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super short and creepy.

[Jenny F · Rating 3 out of 5]

WTF?!? 😂

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

i h8 this so much. also i don’t think i fully got all the disturbing details, my sweet little brain couldn’t comprehend

[Jillian Ferry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What in the hell is going on? This story would not be allowed in Florida. This is strange and forward yet I feel like I want to read more from this author.

[Elyssa (Elyssa's Editions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story from the Queen of Thrillers, Karin Slaughter. It is just 20 minutes in length and was available from my library, so I figured it would be a nice thing to enjoy on my lunch hour. It paints a vivid image despite its short length and like all of her work, it did not disappoint.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So twisty that I found my self saying "wait, what?"

[Trisha Arrowsmith]

Blah. It is a super short story. It was like 20 minutes. She ended up the one to kill her own mother because she was jelous of her fathers relationship (sexual) with her. Her father tells her that she is getting another woman in the house to help her with house chores. In other words, he got a girl friend. They are discussing this while they dress themselves. You know she's going to kill the girl friend too. She has to be the only one sleeping with her father. Mental!!

[Tammy Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean.... wow! LOL. It's a short story, yet it conveyed so much. Standard Slaughter, which is a GOOD thing!

[MsJohnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book #15 of the Book-a-Day Christmas reading challenge.

[Dawnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had the audio book and im so mad because the book was only about 20 min. was this a joke!!!! the story was good, is there a complete book out there some where or is that it?

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

audiobook
VERY creepy.

[EK Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dark, very gruesome, very Karin!

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

8/25/19

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing little short story.

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short piece of writing. I caught a little bit more of the hidden gems the second time reading. Sadly, I am sure some young ladies have been forced to grow up and be the woman of the house.

[Sandi]

Very disturbing. I did audio at bedtime. Wrong decision

[Lils · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, it was pretty predictable in my opinion.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisted short story.

[Trinity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yuck!

[Maryanne]

Well that's not what I thought that would be.

[Sophie Rayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

File under WTF?!!