My Review:

A raw and honest look at women’s lives based on reports and interviews, Three Women is explicit and intense.   Author Lisa Taddeo dives deep into the sexual and emotional world of Maggie, Sloan and Lina, revealing desires and intimate details of the lives over an 8 year period.  All of the women’s stories are independent of each other and they are different in many ways, age, social class, location.  One is in an unhappy marriage and is having an affair with an old flame.  One runs a restaurant with her husband and enjoys an open marriage, yet feelings of power, control and desire are complicated.  And finally, the most upsetting for me, one was having an affair with her high school teacher when she was underage and years later she calls him out on it and brings charges against him in a court of law.

These women all have unique and different stories and represent just three of the more than 300 million people living in America, yet some things are universal.  The search for approval and acceptance, the need to be desired, and the enjoyment derived from a sense power seem to be consistent. In these relationships, decisions regarding sex and intimacy led to vulnerability and mixed emotions.

Raw, honest and somewhat shocking(to me), Lisa Taddeo lets us in on these women’s lives, sexual practices and emotions.  This book is not for everyone, but definitely generates interesting discussion amongst fellow readers.

Goodreads Summary

About the Author:

Lisa Taddeo crisscrossed the United States countless times, moved to six different places, and talked to hundreds of men and women to ultimately find three women whose lives tell the story of desire in America.

Three Women chronicles her findings through the lives of Sloane, Lina, and Maggie. The stories of these three women are not universal, but they are also not uncommon. Lina is an unhappily married woman, who leaves her husband and reignites with an old flame. Maggie is a young woman pursuing legal action against her high school teacher after their affair sours. And Sloane is a happily married restaurateur, whose husband’s desire is fueled by their open marriage.

Taddeo has given voice to unspoken activities fueled by lust and desire throughout her journalism career. She has examined, with precision, incidents by A-listers arising from lust and infidelity for New York magazine, Esquire, Elle, and Glamour.

With Three Women, Taddeo gives a voice to the girl next door, all grown up.