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Staff Pick
Taddeo spent eight years and thousands of hours with her subjects to render three detailed portraits of female desire, and the end result is an absolute gift. One of the most electric, unapologetic, and powerfully intimate books I’ve ever read, I’ll be reeling from this one for some time. Recommended By Tove H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The instant #1
New York Times bestseller and one of the most talked-about books of the year, Lisa Taddeo's
Three Women is "the most in-depth look at the female sex drive that's been published in decades" (
New York) and a "groundbreaking...breathtaking...staggeringly intimate" (
Entertainment Weekly) look at the sex lives of three real American women — based on nearly a decade of reporting.
Hailed as "a dazzling achievement" (Los Angeles Times) and "riveting page-turner that explores desire, heartbreak, and infatuation in all its messy, complicated nuance" (The Washington Post), Lisa Taddeo's Three Women has captivated readers, booksellers, and critics — and topped bestseller lists — worldwide.
Declared "the best book of the year" by Elizabeth Gilbert and "a breathtaking and important book" by Cheryl Strayed, Three Women has won praise everywhere from Columbia Journalism Review ("deeply reported, elegantly written, almost uncomfortably intimate") to Refinery29 ("the hype for Three Women is real; in fact, it's insufficient"), from Esquire ("a heartbreaking, gripping, astonishing masterpiece") to Time ("Three Women is a battle cry...For anyone who thinks they know what women want, this book is an alarm, and its volume is turned all the way up.") In the words of The New Statesman, "This is an unusual, startling, and gripping debut. It feels to me like the kind of bold, timely, once-in-a-generation book that every house should have a copy of, and probably will before too long."
In suburban Indiana we meet Lina, the homemaker and mother of two whose marriage, after a decade, has lost its passion. Starved for affection, Lina battles daily panic attacks and, after reconnecting with an old flame through social media, embarks on an affair that quickly becomes all-consuming. In North Dakota we meet Maggie, the seventeen-year-old high school student who allegedly has a clandestine physical relationship with her handsome, married English teacher; the ensuing criminal trial will turn their quiet community upside down. Finally, in the northeast we meet Sloane, the successful, refined restaurant owner whose husband enjoys watching her have sex with other men and women.
Based on years of immersive reporting and told with astonishing frankness and immediacy, Three Women is both a feat of journalism and a triumph of storytelling, brimming with nuance and empathy. "A work of deep observation, long conversations, and a kind of journalistic alchemy" (Kate Tuttle, NPR), Three Women introduces us to three unforgettable women — and one remarkable writer — whose experiences remind us that we are not alone.
Review
"A deeply reported, elegantly written, almost uncomfortably intimate portrait of three American women...Taddeo reveals something universal in each of their stories...The result is a nonfiction book that feels as close to its subjects as a novel, like Adrien Nicole LeBlanc's Random Family, or Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down." Matt Haber, Columbia Journalism Review
Review
"What makes Three Women so remarkable and indelible, and also so refreshingly out-of-step with the tenor of the present moment, is Taddeo's refusal to judge these 'characters.' She is not particularly interested in determining who is right, who is wrong, and who is to blame. Intensity and compulsion draw her to these stories like tractor beams. What most fascinates her is how sexual desire transfigures the entire tissue of a personality and changes the course of lives." Laura Miller, Slate
Review
"A revolutionary look at women's desire, this feat of journalism reveals three women who are carnal, brave, and beautifully flawed." People (Book of the Week)
About the Author
Lisa Taddeo has contributed to New York magazine, Esquire, Elle, Glamour, and many other publications. Her nonfiction has been included in the Best American Sports Writing and Best American Political Writing anthologies, and her short stories have won two Pushcart Prizes. She is the author of Three Women. She lives with her husband and daughter in New England.