A review by tackling_the_tbrs
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

5.0

Taddeo explores female desire through the lives of three real women: Maggie, who forms a relationship with her teacher and later takes him to court; Lina, stuck in a loveless marriage and still pining for her high school sweetheart; and Sloane, whose husband likes to watch her have sex with other people.

It covers so many facets of love and desire in such an open, brilliant way. The prose is as fluid, painful and emotive as any fiction.

Narrative works are my favourite type of non-fiction purely because of the false sense of security they create. When bad things happen in fiction it’s awful to read, but you’ve at least got the safety blanket knowledge that none of it’s real. Taddeo writes so skilfully that I’d find myself reaching for this same comfort, and it’s a real sucker punch when you remember that the longing and sadness in this book is real – I just wanted to give Maggie the biggest hug.

These three women are sympathetic and intriguing and brave about their desires, and the sadness and joy these desires bring. Watching them work through these desires over the course of the book is rewarding, and though there was one character I felt ended in a similar place as she started, what else can we expect from real life?

My one small critique from an otherwise flawless book is that there’s little by way of diversity. I’d love to read a similar book that considers races and sexualities beyond cis white women.