An electrifying debut short story collection about the wives, lovers, and mistresses of history's most notorious men, for fans of Emma Cline's The Girls. A schoolgirl catches the eye of the future leader of Nazi Germany. A pair of childhood sweethearts reunite to commit rape and murder. A devoted Mormon wife follows her husband into the wilderness after he declares himself a prophet. The stories in The Love of a Bad Man imagine the lives of real women, all of whom were the lovers, wives, or mistresses of various 'bad' men in history. Beautifully observed, fascinating, and at times horrifying, the stories interrogate power, the nature of obsession, and the lengths some women will go to for the men they love.