Three Women was one of my reads in August, ahead of the premiere of the show by the same name, starring Shailene Woodley.


Three Women was published in 2019, and it tells the story of Lina, Maggie, and Sloane, concentrating especially on the subject of female sexuality and desire.The book was written by Lisa Taddeo, who spent many years getting to know each of the women portrayed, travelling across the country many times to better understand their lives and histories.

To be honest, when I’ve purchased this book I did not know it was a non-fiction book which is not generally my preferred genre, but I knew an adaptation was coming soon and I went in blindly. To be even more honest, I don’t know if I would’ve read the book if I knew more about the subject and the writing style beforehand.

From underage rape, to an illegal affair, to unhealthy intimate dynamics, the book covers a lot of how a person develops due to a specific traumatic event or childhood, how society plays a part in some of the outcome of these stories, and why not one story is ever just black and white. It was somewhat a very mature read, also an insightful one, but I didn’t really vibe with the writing style that was making the progress of reading the book feel very slow and even boring at times. The story(ies) felt a bit dragged.

We don’t remember what we want to remember. We remember what we can’t forget.

In order to write this review, I have watched the pilot episode of Three Women, the STARZ adaptation starring Shailene Woodley (who plays a fictionalized version of the book’s author), Betty Gilpin (Lina), Gabrielle Creevy (Maggie), and DeWanda Wise (Sloane). And the pilot episode was good. Again, exactly like I was saying about the book, the subject is very niche and that can be a problem for a larger audience – so keep this in mind.

Three Women was initially set to be released by Showtime, but ended up being picked up and released by STARZ in September 2024. The series comprises of 10 episodes which are due to be releasead weekly (depending on where you live). I believe the entire season is available on demand already in some countries, including Australia.

The show was written and created by the book’s author, Lisa Taddeo. Just by watching the first episode, I can see that some things have been changed from how they were presented in the book, but of course many things work differently on screen than on paper. 🙂 And the changes are good so far. In the pilot episode you get a glimpse into each of the three women’s lives, and you are left with the promise to dive in deeper and deeper with each episode. And I’m here for it.

When you are actively living for yourself, you feel less pain.


Trailer:

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2 Comments

  1. I was wondering if reading the book after watching the show are some of the ?’s resolved?
    Like was Gia deathly ill?
    Was she going to let Jack in to her (the baby’s) life?
    She , & Maggie both adored their imperfect fathers but Gia has no thoughts about letting her precious daughter know and love her dad?
    Did all of the women go on the Today show or only Maggie , so she could proclaim how unjustly and unfairly she was judged by a trusted teacher.
    Her lawyer should have gotten a hand writing expert to prove Percy teacher did write the Twilight notes and linked them up with his pervy texts. He was a terrible lawyer to cross examine the teacher and just let him say no to his notes. The lawyer should have made perv teacher read the notes. And as he was exonerated and got his job back and got his back pay. Did his wife stay with him? I wanted to know that. Because even though the jury found him not guilty / because they were stupid idiots.
    There was plenty of evidence in his texts, in the time he spent on the phone with her. For her to know her husband was a child rapist. Everyone knows the human brain does not complete development of reasoning until a person is in their early twenties. A 17 year old is not capable of making logical reasoning decisions about sex and love and relationships. Most people rarely develop that capability. But definitely a 17 told is driven by hormones and not logical thinking. She could not see perv teacher would say or do anything to get his hands on a nubile innocent who would not question his motives or think anything other than the sex must mean love. And those pleasurable feelings are flooding her body with endorphins and oxytocin making her feel like she’s in love but really it’s just lust. Knowing lust can lead to love in time sometimes. But most often it burns out in a few month’s. Then the live goggles fall off and the sight becomes 20/20. And you don’t necessarily want to spend eternity with what you see. ? And why when teacher Perv was in the bathroom professing his love at his surprise birthday party and reminding her to delete the texts did his wife read his texts the next day when he ended it with Maggie. Where she gets frozen in time still loving and wanting her reacher – telling her therapist he never returned her calls or letters. Until she decides to no longer pine for him. To take back her own life by reporting the child abuser to the police.
    I wanted to know if the book resolves any of these questions. Or will I be left hanging like the show left me. I’m not a big fan of filling in the ending when a show ends without wrapping up the story in a nice neat bow. Every one won’t live happily ever after but not to know.. Jack reporting Gia for kidnapping after being harshly ghosted. Gia going in to the MRI but left wondering.
    Maggie’s teachers face when he sees her on the Today show. Lina finding a real man with fully developed emotions. And getting herself and her son disinfected after they were befouled in the latrine.
    Sloane was the only one who I felt came to terms with her desires and who she wanted.
    Am I the only one who was waiting for Gia to turn the car around and go back to Sloane and Jack and snap out of her stupid running away from … death? She needed to end up running to life.

    1. Hello Merri! Thank you for your comment and for reading my review. I finished the show sometime after writing this review and I can understand your interest in finding the answers to some questions that were not addressed in full in the series. However, I wouldn’t say that the book offers too much information from what is presented in the series. Lisa Taddeo, the author of the book, was also the creator of the show and I am sure she included as much information as she had or as much information as the women involved were comfortable in sharing.

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