Lisa Taddeo | THREE WOMEN

Plot (via Goodreads):

It thrills us and torments us. It controls our thoughts, destroys our lives, and it’s all we live for. Yet we almost never speak of it. And as a buried force in our lives, desire remains largely unexplored—until now. Over the past eight years, journalist Lisa Taddeo has driven across the country six times to embed herself with ordinary women from different regions and backgrounds. The result, Three Women, is the deepest nonfiction portrait of desire ever written and one of the most anticipated books of the year.

We begin in suburban Indiana with Lina, a homemaker and mother of two whose marriage, after a decade, has lost its passion. She passes her days cooking and cleaning for a man who refuses to kiss her on the mouth, protesting that “the sensation offends” him. To Lina’s horror, even her marriage counselor says her husband’s position is valid. Starved for affection, Lina battles daily panic attacks. When she reconnects with an old flame through social media, she embarks on an affair that quickly becomes all-consuming.

In North Dakota we meet Maggie, a seventeen-year-old high school student who finds a confidant in her handsome, married English teacher. By Maggie’s account, supportive nightly texts and phone calls evolve into a clandestine physical relationship, with plans to skip school on her eighteenth birthday and make love all day; instead, he breaks up with her on the morning he turns thirty. A few years later, Maggie has no degree, no career, and no dreams to live for. When she learns that this man has been named North Dakota’s Teacher of the Year, she steps forward with her story—and is met with disbelief by former schoolmates and the jury that hears her case. The trial will turn their quiet community upside down.

Finally, in an exclusive enclave of the Northeast, we meet Sloane—a gorgeous, successful, and refined restaurant owner—who is happily married to a man who likes to watch her have sex with other men and women. He picks out partners for her alone or for a threesome, and she ensures that everyone’s needs are satisfied. For years, Sloane has been asking herself where her husband’s desire ends and hers begins. One day, they invite a new man into their bed—but he brings a secret with him that will finally force Sloane to confront the uneven power dynamics that fuel their lifestyle.

Based on years of immersive reporting, and told with astonishing frankness and immediacy, Three Women is a groundbreaking portrait of erotic longing in today’s America, exposing the fragility, complexity, and inequality of female desire with unprecedented depth and emotional power. It is both a feat of journalism and a triumph of storytelling, brimming with nuance and empathy, that introduces us to three unforgettable women—and one remarkable writer—whose experiences remind us that we are not alone.

Review:

So, when I first heard about Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, I thought this was a fictional novel about three women and their experiences and completely missed that it was a true story. Well, with a phenomenal foreword from the publisher and a lyrically written and detailed prologue from Lisa Taddeo about what she went through and the idea that brought on these stories, I was even more intrigued by this book. After learning these were three separate stories from three real women, I was even more intrigued with this story.

These three stories were poignant, emotionally-charged, and brutally honest. Given that I was coming off from a fictional novel that involved the #METOO movement, this was the perfect follow-up as I got to immerse myself in three completely different lives and situations that rattled my soul. I found Maggie's story-line my favorite, even though all three are harrowing. Each had a different feel to them, but what I loved was that Taddeo removed the polish, eliminated the smoke and mirrors, and gave the reader a brutally honest look at what these situations that are often glamorized so desperately in fictional film and print. There's a terrifying rabbit hole of teenage emotions when young Maggie falls in love with her teacher and all of the details and emotions are raw and harrowing. The situation Lina finds herself in is desperate, lonely, and emotionally charged. Sloane's story of an open relationship isn't full of perfumes and promises as you would think.

Each perspective was palpable, panicked, and emotionally brutal. I felt for all of these women and what they went through regardless of what decisions they made to get themselves there. This book is perfect, eye-opening, and is unlike anything I've ever read. If Go Ask Alice sparked emotion and felt like a work of intimacy, this is the perfect portrait of three women. Congratulations to Lisa Taddeo for not only getting me out of my comfort zone with what I read, but for making it so worth it.

Special thanks to Avid Reader Press for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5