Leslie Absher

2 weeks ago | msmagazine.com | Leslie Absher

Sexual abuse of female inmates in federal prisons is an open secret. According to a bipartisan report from the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the Bureau of Prisons opened over 5,000 cases alleging sexual abuse by federal employees from 2012 to 2022. Sen.

2 months ago | msmagazine.com | Leslie Absher

A number of prominent U.S. publishers, including the “Big 5”—Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers and Simon & Schuster—along with Sourcebooks and several best-selling young adult authors, parents, teens and a library district, filed a lawsuit last week against an Idaho bill that restricts access to books accused of inappropriate “sexual content.” The lawsuit is the latest in an ongoing battle against right-wing book bans, which often target...

Aug 2, 2024 | msmagazine.com | Leslie Absher

What happens when 19th-century women skilled in the science of plants and other healing arts are vilified and driven from their community? They flee to a remote South Florida island and set about exacting their revenge on unwitting passersby, of course. To do this, they conjure dark miasmic clouds that cut off the electricity and block the only exit from the island. And if anyone attempts to escape by sea, they find themselves inevitably pulled under. Permanently.

Jun 25, 2024 | msmagazine.com | Leslie Absher

Kristine S. Ervin was eight when her mother was abducted from a mall parking lot, murdered, and abandoned in an Oklahoma oil field. In her debut memoir Rabbit Heart, Ervin resists the true crime trope of exploiting and glorifying femicide and instead delves into the emotional toll her mother’s death took on her and her family.

Mar 7, 2024 | msmagazine.com | Leslie Absher

Each of the 30 essays in Dare to be Fabulous, by writer and editor Johanna McCloy, recounts a life-changing instance when women dared to be their true selves. The inciting moments are as unique as the women themselves—deciding to join a roller derby team, canceling a wedding at the last minute, or walking 3,000 miles to raise hell and make a point. The essays are short (most span just a few pages) and are both hilarious and moving.