
That such a feverish read was adapted into a steamy yet sad premium-cable drama is no surprise. Yet the 10-episode series, created by Taddeo for Showtime then shelved and picked up by Starz, breaks the book’s sweaty spell. Like the text spun through a centrifuge, this version of Three Women, premiering Sept. 13, pairs retellings of the subjects’ stories with the tale of a fourth woman: the Taddeo-esque journalist (Shailene Woodley’s Gia) traveling the country to collect characters. Despite bold performances and sensitive directing that centers women’s subjective experiences of sex and their bodies, the show’s disjointed structure and flimsy frame narrative suggest that the book might not have been so ripe for TV after all.