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ultimately dying. Before her passing away the mansion is purchased by Ruth. Ruth even attends Mary's funeral, externally looking like her. She hires Mary's former manservant and lover Garcia. Ruth now lives a life of wealth, extravagance, and control, and plans to sexually dominate Bobbo once she secures his release from prison, causing him the misery that he once caused her.
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and leave the country, though with the assistance of the same secretary, Ruth is in possession of the money herself, becoming rich as a result. Ruth, nonetheless feels slight sympathy for the secretary and encourages her to send a letter revealing the affair to Mary then arranges for her to take a new job in
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so she can evade the police. The stress and subsequent expense of his arrest after the problems created by unexpectedly being forced to share her home with Bobbo's children, pets and her mother has detrimental effect on Mary's physical and mental wellbeing, as a result her writing suffers, leading to
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for female secretaries, under the alias of "Vesta Rose". Through her agency, she sends a secretary to Bobbo's office who begins another affair with him. When the police arrive to arrest Bobbo, Ruth has made it appear as though he and the secretary were going to take the stolen money to
Switzerland
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Under a new alias, Ruth works as a nanny for the children of the judge who presides over Bobbo's trial, satisfying his masochistic desires and successfully persuading him to extend Bobbo's prison sentence if he is convicted. Bobbo is found guilty and imprisoned. While a desperate Mary turns toward
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Bobbo leaves Ruth and their two children and goes to live with Mary, to whom he soon proposes. Ruth plots her revenge on them, beginning by burning down her own house, therefore forcing the children to live with their father at Mary's lavish home which is a converted lighthouse. Ruth engages in a
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Ruth uses her money to change her lifestyle and appearance, undergoing over several years, a series of surgeries to completely restructure her body to be identical to Mary. Mary continues to love Bobbo, spends her entire fortune on Bobbo's trial and finally wastes away, developing cancer and
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religion for guidance, Ruth manipulates the entire situation by seducing and corrupting a priest, Father
Ferguson, and sending him to Mary. Ruth continues to recreate herself with a variety of aliases and love affairs.
141:. A story about a highly unattractive woman who goes to great lengths to take revenge on her husband and his attractive lover, Weldon stated that the book is about envy, rather than revenge.
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which houses Mary's mother, Pearl. Her actions there cause Pearl to be expelled from the home, thus inconveniencing Mary and Bobbo who must now care for her.
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201:. She uses this knowledge to discreetly steal money from Bobbo's corporate clientele in a way that will incriminate Bobbo later on. Ruth starts her own
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178:, he calls her a "she-devil", causing her to reassess her life. She resolves to behave in accordance with the label he has given her.
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based on convenience alone and only married her because he got her pregnant when they were teenagers. Bobbo only truly loves his
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string of meaningless sexual relationships in order to emotionally detach herself from sex. In the meantime, she works at the
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The BBC Radio 4 adaptation was broadcast as a
Classic Serial on 21 and 28 February 2016, total duration 106 minutes.
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Ruth is an abnormally tall and ugly housewife whose husband, Bobbo, considers their relationship an
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174:. When Ruth passionately indicates her disapproval for Bobbo's
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The novel was adapted less faithfully by
Hollywood in 1989 as
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Paperback editions of the novel were issued in 1993 by
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610:Claire Armitstead (31 March 2017).
555:has a very similar plot to 1989's
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717:British novels adapted into films
694:The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
586:"Looking For Love After Marriage"
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130:The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
170:Mary Fisher, a famous, wealthy
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211:further financial struggles.
144:The novel was adapted into a
732:Hodder & Stoughton books
636:Sarah Ditum (5 April 2017).
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488:television serial, starring
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189:Ruth finds work at a
146:BBC television serial
727:Novels by Fay Weldon
261:Death of a She Devil
191:psychiatric hospital
712:1983 British novels
446:Nicola / Nicolette
389:Cast and Characters
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176:extramarital affair
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33:First edition (UK)
16:Book by Fay Weldon
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526:, starring
208:New Zealand
199:bookkeeping
706:Categories
571:References
474:Television
383:106 mins.
380:100 mins.
195:accounting
139:Fay Weldon
43:Fay Weldon
557:She-Devil
523:She-Devil
296:She-Devil
151:She Devil
110:Paperback
67:Publisher
223:Editions
168:mistress
135:feminist
106:Hardback
49:Language
374:Length
137:author
104:Print (
52:English
504:Movies
282:Radio
279:Movie
257:sequel
251:Sequel
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39:Author
563:Radio
395:Ruth
61:Novel
57:Genre
675:2020
649:2020
623:2020
597:2020
331:2016
324:1989
317:1986
241:ISBN
233:ISBN
197:and
158:Plot
88:1983
78:(US)
73:(UK)
486:BBC
247:).
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.