ALISON GRAHAM-BERTOLINI has a Ph.D. in English Literature from Louisiana State University and a Master's degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Her writing and research focus on issues in contemporary American Literature, Ethnic Literature, and Women's Studies. She has recently published articles in the Journal of Feminist Media Studies, The Southern Quarterly, and the edited collection American Writers: Transnationalisms and Diasporas.

PART I: GREAT VENGEANCE AND FURIOUS ANGER: THE FEMALE AVENGER PART II: WOMEN WARRIORS AND WOMEN WITH WEAPONS PART III: THE WOMAN WHO SNAPS, THE WOMAN WHO KILLS PART IV: THE FEMALE BANDIT/OUTLAW

Graham-Bertolini provides the first analysis of vigilante women in contemporary American fiction. She develops a dynamic model of vigilante heroines using literary and feminist theory and applies it to important texts to broaden our understanding of how law and culture infringe upon women's rights.