Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women – an “intimate investigation” of female sexuality in America – was the “biggest publishing sensation of 2019”, said Madeleine Feeny in the London Evening Standard. As a result, “all eyes are trained” on Taddeo’s debut novel, Animal. And it proves to be a dark, carnal tale, “drenched in sex and blood”.
It begins with Joan, the beautiful but damaged narrator, driving cross-country to Los Angeles and renting a ramshackle three-storey house up Topanga Canyon. Sex, rape and murder ensue: “men hunt women, women hunt men, and damaged women hunt one another”.
Taddeo’s writing can be “exceptionally good”, said Sandra Newman in The Guardian. But the “careening outlandishness” of the plot seems at odds with the book’s “serious content”: much of the incident is “gratuitously bizarre and seedy”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It rather grew on me, said Melissa Katsoulis in The Times. Taddeo is attempting something radical, which is “flipping American Psycho for the #MeToo generation”. She hasn’t quite found her fictional stride, but she has the “guts and big ideas to become something great”.
Bloomsbury £16.99; The Week Bookshop £13.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
Why quitting your job is so difficult in JapanUnder the Radar Reluctance to change job and rise of ‘proxy quitters’ is a reaction to Japan’s ‘rigid’ labour market – but there are signs of change
-
Gavin Newsom and Dr. Oz feud over fraud allegationsIn the Spotlight Newsom called Oz’s behavior ‘baseless and racist’
-
‘Admin night’: the TikTok trend turning paperwork into a partyThe Explainer Grab your friends and make a night of tackling the most boring tasks
-
The Beckhams: the feud dividing BritainIn the Spotlight ‘Civil war’ between the Beckhams and their estranged son ‘resonates’ with families across the country
-
6 homes with incredible balconiesFeature Featuring a graceful terrace above the trees in Utah and a posh wraparound in New York City
-
The Flower Bearers: a ‘visceral depiction of violence, loss and emotional destruction’The Week Recommends Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ ‘open wound of a memoir’ is also a powerful ‘love story’ and a ‘portrait of sisterhood’
-
Steal: ‘glossy’ Amazon Prime thriller starring Sophie TurnerThe Week Recommends The Game of Thrones alumna dazzles as a ‘disillusioned twentysomething’ whose life takes a dramatic turn during a financial heist
-
Anna Ancher: Painting Light – a ‘moving’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends Dulwich Picture Gallery show celebrates the Danish artist’s ‘virtuosic handling of the shifting Nordic light’
-
H is for Hawk: Claire Foy is ‘terrific’ in tender grief dramaThe Week Recommends Moving adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s bestselling memoir
-
Our Town: Michael Sheen stars in ‘beautiful’ Thornton Wilder classicThe Week Recommends Opening show at the Welsh National Theatre promises a ‘bright’ future
-
Music reviews: Zach Bryan, Dry Cleaning, and Madison BeerFeature “With Heaven on Top,” “Secret Love,” and “Locket”
