HuffPost Readable, A New Book Club: First Up Is Lisa Taddeo's 'Animal'

Taddeo's book explores the depths of female trauma in all its gritty corners as well as the imminent risks of being a woman.
Get Lisa Taddeo's explosive sophomore book from Amazon.
Get Lisa Taddeo's explosive sophomore book from Amazon.

Welcome to HuffPost Readable, HuffPost’s very own book club that features a new book each month to devour, celebrate and discuss with fellow readers. At the beginning of each month you can grab a copy of the book we feature and take part in our open discussions on HuffPost’s Canceled Plans Facebook page. We look forward to reading with you.

Our narrator isn’t necessarily likable. In fact, she calls herself depraved. What she is, however, is honest, reckless and a woman who has experienced all the sufferings available for a woman to have.

HuffPost’s first book club pick, “Animal” by Lisa Taddeo, follows this narrator, a woman named Joan, as she leaves her sordid existence in New York and flees to the sweltering Topanga canyons of Los Angeles in search of the only person who can help her understand the deep and complex trauma of her past. In the process, she begins to analyze the wrongs of all the men that have ever been in her life, while harnessing a feminine rage that gives her the strength to survive.

Taddeo, author of 2019 New York Times bestseller “Three Women,” is no stranger to depicting female existence in the most evocative ways, from a woman’s inexplicable desires to the toxic ways in which they serve as placeholders in men’s lives.

“Animal,” her second book, unabashedly explores similar themes, including the taboo reality that motherhood can be a complicated burden for many women. These are a few of the reasons why we chose this explosive novel for Women’s History Month.

Written in a similar voice to that of writers like Elena Ferrante and Joan Didion, using language as delicious as it is redolent, this book indulges all of the thoughts we may be ashamed to have and, perhaps, will speak to the “Animal” in all of us.

To supplement the important conversations waiting to be had in this book, HuffPost will be conducting an open and informal discussion on HuffPost’s Canceled Plans Facebook page. Beginning March 14, you can find our discussion prompts on the page and we will check back throughout the month to hear your thoughts, responses and questions.

To stay up to date with all HuffPost Readable announcements, subscribe to The Good Life by HuffPost newsletter and follow the HuffPost Life Instagram.

Please note that much of the content in this novel can be triggering for many readers as there are mentions of miscarriage, abortion, murder, suicide and rape.

HuffPost may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Every item is independently selected by the HuffPost Shopping team. Prices and availability are subject to change.

Before You Go

A monthly subscription that brings books right to their door

27 Gifts For Introverts That Let Them Know You Care

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN SHOPPING