The Unnatural and Accidental Women is a chilling and eye-opening read.

The play begins with a

nonfiction news article from the Vancouver Sun, "Death By Alcohol." This news article sets the
tone for the play, introducing the deaths of these women but not specifically the names of the
women tied to the deaths. All of these women were found dead with a blood alcohol reading of
something far from safe, as well as most of them being found undressed.
Clement's choice to include this article at the beginning of the book was wise. It introduces the
topic at hand and allows people to understand that this is real and happening today to innocent
women. I believe the news article being included has not only made the play stronger but also
opened up the opportunity for the readers to understand how the women had died before reading
the play. The news article that is included is a snippet of a larger article, but what is included is
powerful for the play and gives just enough information to allow you to understand what you are
about to read.
The most repetitive information given in the news article is the blood alcohol reading and that
the death was unnatural and accidental. Within the play, there are points when a new woman is
introduced, and the information we get given is the woman's name, age, date of death and blood
alcohol reading. "Slide: Rita Louis James, 52, died November 10, 1978 with a 0.12 blood-
alcohol reading. No coroner's report issued." (9) This is included after each woman, all of them
happen to have a high blood alcohol reading and no coroners report issued.
Works Cited
Clements, Marie. The unnatural and accidental women. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2010.