Lisa Taddeo

From Lisa Taddeo, #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Three Women and “our most eloquent and faithful chronicler of human desire” (Esquire), Ghost Lover is an electrifying collection of masterful and fearless short stories. Behind anonymous screens, an army of cool and beautiful girls manage the dating service Ghost Lover, a forwarding system for text messages that promises to spare you the anguish of trying to stay composed while communicating with your crush. At a star-studded political fundraiser in a Los Angeles mansion, a trio of women compete to win the heart of the slick guest of honor. On a quest to lose her virginity, a daughter tracks down her deceased mother’s old flame, the rugged, comically named Jon Deere. In these twelve riveting stories, two of which have been awarded the Pushcart Prize, Lisa Taddeo brings to life the fever of obsession, the blindness of love, and the mania of grief. Featuring Taddeo’s arresting prose that continues to thrill her legions of fans, Ghost Lover dares you to look away.

Stories

Ghost Lover

if i were to summarize every short stories written here, it would only be women pitting against each other and how they revel with one another’s downfall.

Samantha Chavez 

each story feels like it has its own heart, some more dark and twisted than the others, and taddeo’s writing is just brilliant.

unpopular opinion • i found every character in this book revolting. the stories could have been incredible if they weren’t revolving around the self-absorbed middle aged dried up women. i heard they were supposed to be relatable, exposing every dark secret we all have inside of us, but i couldn’t find that more wrong. i didn’t finish, so maybe this review isn’t fair, but i pushed myself every page until halfway before my friends told me to give myself permission to give up ಥ‿ಥ 

10/10 passionately do not recommend

Catherine Duplessis

2.5⭐️

This book is perfect for the current trend : the (9) stories are a 4, but the main characters are all women bringing other women down by comparing their weight, length of their leg, colour of their hair, their income juste because they are in love with the same (way too old) man. That's a 2.5 for me.

The stories were well written, but it was too much women-to-woman comparison. Too many unhappy women bringing down other women. Too much self-sabotage to seduce a man that absolutely doesn't care about them. The stories mostly made me angry or annoyed.

Maggie

So vibrant and juicy that it feels like gossiping with your best friend- a friend so close they tell you their deepest, darkest thoughts.

Lisa Taddeo has a gift for illustrating how patriarchy affects women, not just in their relationships but deep to their core. It brings up themes of jealousy, resignation, obsession, loss, and connection. I found Taddeo’s exploration of friendships between women to be interesting in its honesty. 

One standout was Forty-Two. It was an honest, sad look at womanhood. It contrasted two women’s expectations of their love lives- an older woman with hope versus a young woman resigned to what she thinks is realistic. It situated womanhood in perception- the picture of a memory meaning even more than the moment of a memory (unless you’re rolling in the hay with a very kind cowboy). It was also the first of many stories that discuss the value of youth, a commodity for women in a patriarchal society.

Taddeo’s typical dark tone is present throughout the collection, but there are lifting moments, too. There are shared thoughts between women during traumatic moments. There are friends who act selflessly. But there are many, many instances of fatphobia on the part of the narrators- it felt like a commentary by the author on the pressure, internal and external, to have a “conventionally attractive” body. Taddeo writes about thinness as she writes about youth- as a commodity, unfortunately. Still, it could be a difficult read for those with sensitivity around that subject, and would certainly be alienating to fat or larger-bodied readers.

I very much enjoyed this collection. It’s meaty enough to dig your teeth into, with enough to chew on that I’d like to give it a second read. Great stuff from Taddeo once again.

Ghost Lover Stories

Reviews