Three Women: A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick

I have to admit that it wasn’t an immediate love affair with this book. There was a time when I put it down before I gave it another chance. But it took that second attempt to really get into it and love it. The reviews for Three Women tend to be on either sides of the extreme; one being an adoring love for it and the other detesting it. I think I lie somewhere in between. I really, really liked it. I really did and it has probably been one of my favourite reads of the summer (and is definitely my all time favourite cover!) but there are a fair amount of things I didn’t like about the book also.Three Women follows the sex lives of three ordinary women with very different stories but they all revolve around one thing; how much the men in their lives suck. These women are known by Sloane, Lina and Maggie, whose stories are based on real events over a decade. Like many books with more than one narrative, I enjoyed some more than others. Maggie, for me, was the stand out narrative. I felt the most invested in her character and in her story. Lina, I thought, started out strong but for me she got more and more insufferable and the more I wanted to shake some reality into her. THE MAN IS TRASH LINA. LITERAL TRASH. I also found that I didn’t really connect with Sloane’s story. Perhaps because I couldn’t find anything in her that I could relate to. But none of these narratives were ‘bad’. They all had distinct stories, all of which were very raw and very real tales about female desire, which I haven’t seen done in this way before.In terms of writing, for the most part I thought it was beautifully written. Until I came across a sex scene, and there was a lot of them (plucking? really!?). I found Lina’s sex scenes particularly difficult to read, as there were some descriptions that I thought were a bit unnatural and some imagery that was, in my opinion, pretty gross. But hey, whatever you’re into, Lina. Part of me thinks this might have been intentional, that these scenes were supposed to make you feel uncomfortable in some way. But at least there weren’t any male writers badly describing the female body. So at least that was a plus.This book definitely isn’t for everyone. If you’re more of a plot driven person, you might find Three Women a bit long and slow. There’s also not much of an ending, much like with reality, life just goes on. There isn’t any closure which could be frustrating for some readers.Overall, despite the things I didn’t like about this book I really enjoyed it. I’m still thinking about it days after reading it and I think it will stay with me for a long time. I think it’s the type of book that will open doors for similar works, and I highly recommend that you read this book if it sounds like something you would enjoy.

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱. 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲-Three Women by Lisa Taddeo blew me away. Sometimes, non-fiction can be a little dry, but this novel that followed the stories and lives of these three women was so engaging and interesting it didn't feel like a typical non-fiction book.I received this book through my BooksThatMatter subscription, but it was actually my younger brother who insisted that I read it, because of the impact that it had made on him to really understand these womens' points of view.-𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀... 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆-It is easy to regard these stories as those of unsatisfied women, who are unhappy in their lives or relationships for a reason. The temptation with any accounts like these is to respond in line with how patriarchies or power structures reinforce themselves, namely, to blame the women at the centre of the stories through fear of what we see in ourselves.What happened to Maggie, Lina and Sloane could so easily happen to us, but we tell ourselves we know better, that they should have known better, and that it was a simple matter of making poor choices, when in reality this is so rarely the case.-𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗼𝗳-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱-The content and topic of female desire almost feels like a taboo. Even while reading this book, I paused at times, as I felt myself judging myself for enjoying the book. I caught myself wondering what my partner or others might think of me for saying I really did enjoy this novel, and that elements of the stories resonated with me across these three women. No doubt elements of the other women Taddeo interviewed would have resonated as well.-𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻, 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲... 𝗪𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱-But that is a key point throught the book; we are the ones who uphold these structures and ideals that are indoctinated into us, and we allow them to continue, which means women cannot truly flourish. They are still servient beings, whether that service is domestic, sexual, or emotional.-𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘁.-I would encourage everyone to read this book, and I will definitely be re-reading it as well as checking out more of Taddeo's work. This feels like an incredibly important book for me that truly expresses what it means to be a woman. Though the specific stories and experiences are different we can all relate in some ways, and we should recognise the parts we can play in supporting and uplifting each other.Everyone deserves to be loved and respected, not persued by predators, or blamed for being raped, or have the experiences of men masturbating in public or sending d*ck pics be so normalised when these experiences should be recognised for what they are: traumatic and abusive.-𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻

Very well written. Not what I expected but thoroughly enjoyed

If a woman's heart is a vault, Lisa Taddeo is the key master as she chronicles the sexual desires of three American women. These are the stories too personal to share over drinks among friends or upon the pages of a journal. They are the ones we take with us to the grave.All three stories are tragedies in their own ways—one woman, who as a teenager was allegedly seduced and assaulted by her high school teacher; one in a loveless marriage who has an affair and imprints unrealistic fantasies upon her emotionally distant lover; and the third, a privileged and independent young woman who succumbs to her husband's predilection for threesomes.Many people have labeled this story as a book of women's desire, but in all three cases, the women become victimized by that desire by their male lovers. Was this Taddeo's intent, to cast a harsh light upon the many ways women lose their autonomy in the bedroom? On the predatory nature of men? Taddeo interviewed many women over years looking for her protagonists. What is the message when Taddeo's committed effort to find three women from very different backgrounds results in three portraits of victimization?If you're hoping for a fairy tale ending to any of these three portraits, you'll instead be left wondering, as I was, whether there's anything to be gained from realizing that the power dynamic in the bedroom ends with the man on top.

3.5 StarsLisa Taddeo spent eight years getting to know three women, Maggie, Lina and Sloane. Eight years of speaking to them, their friends and family and even moving to be closer to them to get a better insight into their lives. The result of this eight years of research is Three Women.I picked up this book for a book club knowing very little about it, other than I thought I would be reading about three women and their desires. To an extent, yes this was the case, however I actually felt like I was reading a novel about three women and about how each of them were exploited by men. This is a piece of non-fiction work, but for me it was written in a fictional way. This is not to say that I did not believe their very honest, emotional stories, it is more the writing style that made it feel this way. Lisa Taddeo's writing style took me a little while to get used to and I did struggle to get into this book for the first 100 pages, I found some of it to be unnecessarily descriptive and I'd find myself questioning the relevance.However, after the first 10o pages I was gripped. I was heartbroken, angry and frustrated. I saw myself in some of their thoughts and applaud them and Lisa Taddeo for capturing and sharing such personal, raw stories of their lives.A unique and evocative read that will definitely stay with me.