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

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The International No. 1 Bestseller 'Cuts to the heart of who we are' Sunday Times 'A book that begs discussion' Vanity Fair All Lina wanted was to be desired. How did she end up in a marriage with two children and a husband who wouldnt touch her All Maggie wanted was to be understood. How did she end up in a relationship with her teacher and then in court, a hated pariah in her small town All Sloane wanted was to be admired. How did she end up a sexual object of men, including her husband, who liked to watch her have sex with other men and women Three Women is a record of unmet needs, unspoken thoughts, disappointments, hopes and unrelenting obsessions. *The book Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Alexa Chung, Jodie Comer, Reese Witherspoon, Harry Styles, Fearne Cotton, Caitriona Balfe, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sharon Horgan, Zoe Ball, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Davina McCall, Gemma Chan, Christine and the Queens and Gillian Anderson are all reading* 'I will probably re-read it every year of my life' Caitlin Moran 'Will have millions nodding in recognition' The Times 'As gripping as the most gripping thriller' Marian Keyes 'When I picked it up, I felt I'd been waiting half my life to read it' Observer 'The kind of bold, timely, once-in-a-generation book that every house should have a copy of, and probably will before too long' New Statesman The No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller The No. 1 New York Times Bestseller British Book Awards Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year 2020 Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year A Stylist Book of the Decade The Most-Picked Book of the Year of 2019

Reviews

The kind of bold, timely, once-in-a-generation book that every house should have a copy of, and probably will before too long * New Statesman *
Three Women is an astonishing act of imaginative empathy and a gift to women around the world who feel like their desires are ignored and their voices arent heard. This is a book that blazes, glitters and cuts to the heart of who we are. Im not sure that a book can do much more * Sunday Times *
When I picked it up, I felt Id been waiting half my life to read it; when I put it down, it was as though I had been disembowelled. There isnt a woman alive who wont recognise her stomach lurching, her heart beating wildly something of what Maggie, Lina and Sloane go through -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *
An extraordinary piece of non-fiction a page-rippingly intimate and compelling narration of the desires and sexual proclivities of three real women. Taddeo does not sensationalise, but nor is she coy; the narrative crackles with the visceral details of eroticism. The result feels like a new genre * The Times *
A book with the thrill of the new that you can expect to dominate WhatsApp threads, line tube carriages and pop up in foreign AirBnbs for years to come. Taddeo hasnt just caught a moment, she has spawned a new genre. Three Women reminds us that it is both wonderful and brutal to be in love * Evening Standard *
It's painful and beautiful, gutting and sexy. I don't think I've read a book that has captivated me as intensely as this one, which I still think about, months later, in the quietest hours of the night * Red *
Ive never read a work of non-fiction that so candidly and completely accesses the inner sanctums of its subjects private lives. I must confess that I found this book almost impossibly compelling. Three Women is a sort of real-world Mills & Boon novel told with the gravitas and momentum of the grittiest, most gripping true crime story. Its the book no one I know can put down, and the one everyone is talking about * Daily Telegraph *
Three Women examines love and lust, instigation and exploitation, fairytales and infidelity, girlhood and womanhood and motherhood and all the liminal spaces between, and it asks big questions about who we are allowed to be as women. I salute Lisa Taddeo -- Elizabeth Day
One of the blockbuster publishing events of 2019. An instant classic * i *
The book every man should read this summer. An incredible feat, Three Women has the qualities and the momentum to become a literary sensation * Esquire *
Will have millions nodding in recognition. This is the kind of book you can devour in one sitting * The Times *
This is the In Cold Blood of womens sexuality. A non-fiction novel of such recurring darkness, truth and astonishment I will probably re-read it every year of my life -- Caitlin Moran
After eight years and an almost-telepathic representation of her three subjects Lina, Maggie and Sloane Taddeo has created a book that explores these womens desires and disappointments and, in doing so, has made something so universal itll knock the breath right out of you. It'll be a classic of its genre * Stylist *
Taddeo delivers truths you know in your bones (but have probably never verbalised or made sense of) at breakneck speed. You might find yourself needing to scream into a pillow it just is that kind of book, the kind that deserves all the hyperbole Im using right now. It is infuriating, brutal, eye-opening and reaffirming. Within a day of starting it, I had forced two friends to read it, because its impossible not to discuss. This is a book unlike any other you have ever read * Elle *
As gripping as the most gripping thriller. Moving, immersive, surprising, elegantly written ... You will love it -- Marian Keyes
Extraordinary. I can't remember the last time a book affected me as profoundly as Three Women -- Elizabeth Gilbert
Intense and riveting. It gives us epic themes in miniature. These women broke my heart and I wont forget them -- Gillian Anderson
I literally could not put it down -- Gwyneth Paltrow
[An] instant feminist classic. In this utterly engrossing, frankly game-changing work of narrative non-fiction, a New York magazine contributor profiles a trio of everyday women, shining a light on their darkest desires and how men (and other women) often thwart those wants -- Michelle Hart * O, The Oprah Magazine *
It is the deepest dive into our neighbours consciousnesses that Ive ever read, so immersive it approaches the Tolstoyan, and its narcotic pleasures mainline the only thing that can truly save us: empathy -- Adam Ross
Brilliant. In a year when female sexuality is one of the hottest topics of debate, its a must-read -- Summer Reads * Vogue *
Three Women is riveting a searing, honest, visceral and compulsive account of womens desire. Ive never read anything like it -- Esther Freud
I dont say this lightly the greatest book Ive ever read about women and desire -- Rachel Cooke
I've not read something so confronting, humane, and brilliant in a really long time. An outstanding achievement -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave
This is one of the most riveting, assured and scorchingly original debuts Ive ever read. Taddeos beautifully written and unflinching portraits of desire allow her protagonists to be wholly human and wholly, blessedly complex. I cant imagine a scenario where this isnt one of the most important and breathlessly debated books of the year -- Dave Eggers
Very special ... The three stories blend and layer over one another to give a picture of modern gender dynamics that feels rather iconic -- Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Three Women is painstaking, painful, unblinking, unsentimental and utterly unapologetic -- David Shields, author of 'The Trouble With Men: Reflections on Sex, Love, Marriage, Porn, and Power'
This book will amaze you, for articulating so directly and beautifully the chaotic truths of womens desire ... It will astound you, for the mastery of its execution, the surprising descriptive language that crops up in between the clean, intellectual reportage ... This is going to be my non-fiction book of the year -- Jessie Burton
An incredible book about sadness, broken dreams and disappointment read it immediately * The Sun *
Three Women is a battle cry. The literary brilliance of the book will knock you back. For anyone who thinks they know what women want, this book is an alarm, and its volume is turned all the way up * Time Magazine *
I dont think Ive ever read such an honest, frank and perceptive portrait of female desire. It is as addictive as a thriller, as well as being supremely well-written, intelligent and insightful -- Elizabeth Macneal
Three Women is the new required reading for women and any person who wants to know them. Taddeo has given these womens testimonies of desire, love and trauma a brilliance and dignity that is nothing short of revolutionary -- Stephanie Danler
Taddeo has combined journalistic rigour with luscious prose in a book set to be one of the summers most talked about * Irish Independent *
I've never, ever, read something so honest about womanhood before. Truly, exquisitely, remarkable ... It's going to be deservedly massive -- Holly Bourne
One of the most exciting debuts Ive read in years; the writing is muscular and addictive. A powerful record of ebbing disappointments, unspoken feelings and the endless complexity of female desire * Sunday Times Style *
Lisa Taddeos Three Women offers a fascinating excavation of the intricacies of love and desire, where they conspire and where they conflict. Read this book. You will forever rethink the erotics of women -- Esther Perel
Three Women allows women to say what they would normally keep hidden. Mostly it reads like a thriller: unputdownable It is a story you will have never read before * i *
Three Women is a skilled example of imbricated layering, mixing high trauma with the quotidian, the profound with the peripheral. The testimony on offer here is extremely gripping ... I raced through from cover to cover * Literary Review *
What hope is there for non-famous women who scandalise society with their desires Who will defend them The answer is American author Lisa Taddeo, whose book Three Women restores dignity, agency and humanity to her belittled subjects, all of whom have been rendered vulnerable by passion. The result is a blazing act of advocacy, drawn from the writers forensic analysis and imaginative inhabitation of the womens lives -- Rowan Pelling * Daily Telegraph *
An urgent, sometimes harrowing trio of true-life stories told with the spellbinding allure of great fiction * Metro *
The summer book you wont be able to put down. Lisa Taddeo spent eight long years researching and writing Three Women, but youll likely race through it in a couple of days. There is an emotional honesty to the book that is sometimes almost painful to read. There are also moments of beauty its very rare to come across such bright and clear descriptions of sex, longing and lust, and they offer a unique insight into the hearts, souls and bodies of women * Grazia *
Three Women has already been called the most important book of the year. These are stories

Author Bio

Lisa Taddeo spent eight years and thousands of hours tracking the women whose stories comprise Three Women, moving to the towns they lived in to better understand their lives. She has contributed to New York magazine, Esquire, Elle, Glamour and many other publications. Her short stories have won two Pushcart Prizes. She lives with her husband and daughter in New England.