Rather than academic-style case studies,Three Women read like fiction. It dealt in true,often heartbreaking stories but felt like a literary novel. However,adapting a non-fiction book into a television series that isn’t a documentary is confusing.
Even with a terrific cast and a slate of top-notch directors (including Australian Cate Shortland),the series at times feels a little tonally confused. For a start,Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies) plays Gia,a fictionalised version of Taddeo (the show’s creator),whom we follow as she puts out callouts for interviewees for her book,and befriends her subjects.
We also see her meeting a man,falling in love,having a baby,all of which seem unnecessary;we understand from her heavy-handed narration at the beginning that she is the glue connecting these stories.
Stay-at-home Christian mum Lina,played by the incredible Betty Gilpin;23-year-old Maggie (Gabrielle Creevy),from a working-class background in North Dakota;and beautiful,wealthy restaurateur Sloane (DeWanda Wise) from Rhode Island,who has been cast as a black character here (in the book the women are white).
Lina’s days are spent looking after her sons and managing endometriosis and fibromyalgia pain,which doctors have told her is “in her head”. She’s adrift in a loveless marriage;her husband won’t even kiss her.
Gia meets Lina in a women’s group,where she reveals that she’s given her husband a deadline:if he hasn’t touched her in three months,she’s leaving. Meanwhile,she’s rekindled a romance with her former (married) high-school boyfriend.