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”.
Subscribe to 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.
-
The real story behind the Stanford Prison ExperimentThe Explainer 'Everything you think you know is wrong' about Philip Zimbardo's infamous prison simulation
-
Is it safe for refugees to return to Syria?Talking Point European countries rapidly froze asylum claims after Assad's fall but Syrian refugees may have reason not to rush home
-
Quiz of The Week: 14 - 20 DecemberHave you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Alan Cumming's 6 favorite works with resilient charactersFeature The award-winning stage and screen actor recommends works by Douglas Stuart, Alasdair Gray, and more
-
6 historical homes in Greek Revival styleFeature Featuring a participant in Azalea Festival Garden Tour in North Carolina and a home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in New York
-
The best books about money and businessThe Week Recommends Featuring works by Michael Morris, Alan Edwards, Andrew Leigh and others.
-
A motorbike ride in the mountains of VietnamThe Week Recommends The landscapes of Hà Giang are incredibly varied but breathtaking
-
Nightbitch: Amy Adams satire is 'less wild' than it soundsTalking Point Character of Mother starts turning into a dog in dark comedy
-
Electric Dreams: a 'nerd's nirvana' at Tate ModernThe Week Recommends 'Poignant' show explores 20th-century arts' relationship with technology
-
Joya Chatterji shares her favourite booksThe Week Recommends The historian chooses works by Thomas Hardy, George Eliot and Peter Carey
-
Ballet Shoes: 'magnificent' show 'never puts a foot wrong'The Week Recommends Stage adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's much-loved children's novel is a Christmas treat
