If you’re a reader and follow bookstagram, you’ve likely
seen
Three Women in your newsfeed. It was one of the buzziest books of
the season. Per the title, the book follows three women who live in different
parts of the country to recount their sexual experiences. Journalist Lisa
Taddeo embedded herself in the lives and hometowns of these women during the
course of eight years in order to chronicle their stories.
First, we meet Lina, who is
married to a man who no longer enjoys a physical relationship with her. When
she reconnects with her high school sweetheart through Facebook, she can’t help
but rekindle a romance with her old flame. In her small Indiana town, Lina
finds ways to sneak away to be with her lover.
Second, we meet Maggie Wilken,
who was a seventeen-year-old high school student when she began a sexual
relationship with her charismatic and handsome teacher, Aaron Knodel. What
began as conversations over text and phone calls evolves into a physical
relationship. Things take a turn when people start to suspect their
relationship. Years later, when Maggie learns that Aaron has been named North
Dakota’s Teacher of the Year, she speaks out about their illicit affair and how
he manipulated her.
Third, we meet Sloane, who is a gorgeous and successful restaurant
owner in an exclusive enclave in the Northeast. She and her husband are happily
married, but they have a relationship that may make others raise a brow.
Sloane’s husband enjoys observing his wife in sexual encounters with other
people. He picks out partners for her and watches as they engage in sexual
acts, occasionally participating in threesomes with her and one of the other partners.
The women’s stories are depicted throughout the book, with alternating chapters detailing each woman’s story. The women’s names were changed in the book to protect their identities and those of their loved ones, with the exception of Maggie Wilken and Aaron Knodel, whose story was already publicly available through court records.
Women are often judged harshly about their sexual choices by society and, in these stories, by their family and friends, too. Hopefully, these women’s raw and intimate stories will make conversations about female desire less taboo, along with an understanding that women’s choices are often complex. For these women and many others, sex is so much more than the physical act.
In this video, Lisa Taddeo
shares why she decided to write this book and talks more about the stories of
these three women and the thousands of hours she spent with them.
During her book tour, Lisa stopped by Greenlight Bookstore in
Brooklyn, where she discussed the book in an interview with Katie Couric. Our
video team was able to capture part of the event, so even if you couldn’t
attend one of her events you can still check it out!
This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.