Ruthless Women: The Sunday Times bestseller

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While this list is certainly subjective, it tries to take into account the actual power and the impact of each person. I'm obsessed with this book... Makes Fifty Shades of Grey look like Snow White... Ruthless Women blew my mind' Coleen Nolan Beverley Callard’s called it “the book you’ll never forget”, while Sally Lindsay declared she couldn’t put it down. With ageing actresses desperate to cling onto their crowns and ruthless male executives intent on booting them out for younger women, it’s a true battle of the sexes. Realizing the full extent of her abilities, she takes little time to re-master her effective skill set as she searches for answers to her mysterious past. With some great one-liners and a fantastically bad attitude, Davis’ portrayal was not only perfect for the film but helped pioneer what would become something of a set character archetype for female action stars.

Female Execution Videos and HD Footage - Getty Images Female Execution Videos and HD Footage - Getty Images

It was a well documented, real-life bust-up at the time – and believe me when I say it was worse than anything you’d see on the telly. When I was working as an extra on Corrie I used to go drinking with the late Lynne Perrie, who played Ivy Tilsley. Now she was wild. I’ve never experienced anything quite like the nights out I had with her! She fought in the Battle of Salamis for her Persian overlord Xerxes as one of his closest naval advisors.I am unapologetic about that. Men do it all the time and are labelled a stud, yet we all know what they call a woman who is sexually confident, don’t we?! It’s sexism, to put it mildly. I think one of the reasons people find the book so bingeworthy is because the characters’ lives are so exciting. And the inspiration behind them, soap actresses, are super-human women. Saying too much more about what to expect from the book would spoil the plentiful surprises; just know that you’re going to have a whale of a time when reading it. So it’s no surprise it’s author, Melanie Blake, has been thrust into the spotlight herself. She’s the most talked about new writer in decades – and after meeting her and reading the book, it’s soon obvious why. Throw into the mix a savvy agent desperately trying to keep her warring clients under control, and it’s clear why Melanie’s so familiar with her subject.

Ruthless Women By Melanie Blake |The Works

You’ve been a renowned showbiz agent for decades – surely the characters are based on real people. Who’s who? The book takes readers on a wild ride behind the scenes of a glamorous TV drama, named Falcon Bay, – beamed globally to millions of people, three days a week from its picturesque location in the Channel Islands. Melanie has represented more female TV actresses than any other agent in her genre. She is passionate about championing women, and challenging the double standards set for women by the media and the entertainment industry in the UK. Not all of the drama will give you a laugh, however. There are some genuinely emotional and heart-wrenching moments woven within the story, that Blake manages to tell without sensationalisation. Instead, she uses poise and a lot of thought to ensure that she stays within the boundaries of the murkier topics involved, whilst still lending importance to the serious nature of each.

Yes, it’s fiction, but I have truly experienced every single scene in that book first hand,” she laughs. According to the Spiegel Online, "Colonel Fanette Umuraza is a senior member of both the military and political wing of Congolese Tutsi rebel group, M23". Growing up in a Rwandan refugee camp, Umuraza earned a degree before joining M23. While she sees herself as a military leader, according to the Human Rights Watch, some of the crimes the group commits include murder, and the forced recruitment of children. And she's in charge. Meticulous and absent remorse, Yuki’s revenge is angry, cold-blooded, and satisfyingly swift when it comes. The cult classic Japanese film was one of the first examples of such a story featuring a female lead and was a primary inspiration for Tarantino’s aforementioned Kill Bill films.