A Bad Day for Sorry

by Sophie Littlefield

Book Overview

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel! Stella Hardesty dispatched her abusive husband with a wrench shortly before her fiftieth birthday. A few years later, she's so busy delivering home-style justice on her days off, helping other women deal with their own abusive husbands and boyfriends, that she barely has time to run her sewing shop in her rural Missouri hometown. Some men need more convincing than others, but it's usually nothing a...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312559208
• ISBN13: 9780312559205
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Stelllllaaaaaa!!!!!

Stella is everything I want to be: unapologetic, smart, potty-mouthed, brash, hilarious, and able to whup whup-deserving @ss. In other words, she's real--a hot mess of a woman other women just like me can relate to (and all readers can enjoy). And that's something I've been finding rather rare lately. I adored her, her story, and most of all, Sophie Littlefield's writing. Crossing my fingers we see more from this author...

feisty and fun

A BAD DAY FOR SORRY is feisty and fun. Its protagonist, Stella, is unapologetically everything, wild, unpredictable, crude, violent, smart, and funny. This middle-aged vigilante takes it on herself to rid the Ozark country of wife-abusers, and she's usually tougher and meaner than they are. No amateur woman sleuth has been as much fun since Annie Szabo of THE HUMMINGBIRD WIZARD. Best of all, Sophie Littlefield's writing seethes with energy.

Steeella!

A little overweight, neglected dye-job, stumbling over her words in front of the cop she's got a crush on- Stella Hardesty is the most refreshing [...] I've come across in fiction since... Well, since I'm not sure when. There's no way not to root for her as she doles out [...] whuppin's to abusive husbands and boyfriends between hot flashes. The climactic finale does not disappoint, nor does it disrespect the strengths and limititations Sophie Littlefield has placed upon her heroine, which is equally refreshing. Can't wait for the next Stella Hardesty book!

Stella levels the playing field!

It's so much fun to read about feisty Stella Hardesty as she blazes a trail in a new occupation, reversing abusive relationships. A short visit from a woman with the proper tools (and reputation!) is usually all it takes to straighten things out, until a different sort of crime throws a wrench in Stella's plans. This mystery novel is told with verve, and clearly portrays life in a part of Missouri that seems far away from the nearest Interstate highway. Littlefield taps into a growing zeitgeist with her unique and entertaining voice. The moments of violence in this book are real, well-crafted, and full of suspense. I didn't guess the ending, and loved every minute of being wrong. Can't wait for the next Sophie Littlefield book!

enjoyable jocular frolic

In Missouri, after several years of abuse from Ollie Hardesty and not believing in divorce, Stella took care of business. The widow opens up a sewing shop and could wear a T-shirt that says "I survived domestic violence the old fashion way by burying my spouse". Stella also believes she needs to help battered women like she was as a form of redemption for putting up with Ollie much too long and as an avenging angel dispatching retribution on these bullies. Stella keeps an eye on Roy Dean Shaw, ex mean ass husband of gentle mom Chrissy Shaw. When Roy Dean abducts Chrissy's two years old son Tucker, Stella decides this punk needs a permanent lesson in how to treat a lady. She affirms her feelings about this abusive moron when she learns he is part of the stolen auto parts mob. Chrissy, upset with his taking her infant, has had enough. As Sheriff Goat Jones watches Stella with his dreamy eyes, she hopes it is for her body and not her activity as she leads Chrissy into hell as they team up to take care of Roy Dean and his car ring associates to rescue the baby from the mob. This is an enjoyable jocular frolic as middle aged Stella takes on the world with no looking back as to whom she runs over when she does. She makes the tale work although the rest of the key cast members are fully drawn especially Chrissy and Roy Dean. The latter will soon learn what the wrath of a lioness is as she and her sidekick kick butt to rescue the infant. A BAD DAY FOR SORRY is a good day or three for readers. Harriet Klausner