When We Lost Our Heads

by Heather O'Neill

We are all born with the rope for our own hanging, George thought.

But petty grievances are like weeds that grow underneath sidewalks and find ways to undermine all that is rational and constructive in human civilization.

It was a political pamphlet called How to Kill Your Husband. She described methods whereby women could murder their abusive husbands without drawing the attention of the authorities. One method included leaving a roller skate at the top of a flight of stairs.

Because what a triumph it was for any woman to have time for herself—and to be able to do something that benefitted her imagination alone.