Three (Paperback)

~ (Author) "IT is the first Saturday in August when I walk up to the porch of the summerhouse and see them..." (more)
Key Phrases: writing room, silver hand, Julie Hilden, New York

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Maya and Ilan have an unusual marriage: Maya agrees to tolerate Ilan's chronic infidelity as long as she can participate and he will never stray without her. To her surprise, she finds their threesomes as arousing as they are disturbing, and for a while, everything seems fine. But as Maya's writing career takes off and she becomes more independent, Ilan feels threatened, and opts for another kind of sexual experimentation-one that plays on Maya's fear and ultimately threatens her life.

Meanwhile, Maya is drawn into another relationship, with a fateful third character. When her new liaison begins to mirror her marriage to Ilan, Maya discovers that her lover, seemingly a stranger, knows far more about her past than she has revealed.

A compelling chronicle of obsession and power, 3 brings new immediacy to a timeless question: What is the greatest sacrifice you would make for love?

About the Author

Julie Hilden graduated from Harvard, and earned a law degree at Yale and an MA in creative writing from Cornell. After several years of practicing law, she has now turned to writing full time. Her regular law column appears in FindLaw.com's on-line magazine Writ and on CNN's Law Center, and she also has written for Slate magazine. Her first book, a memoir entitled The Bad Daughter, was published by Algonquin Books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Plume (July 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452284430
• ISBN-13: 978-0452284432
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,096,948 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strange feelings..., June 9, 2005

By	Angela.P (US) - See all my reviews

This book is both beautiful, and disturbing. I will tell you up front that this is definately not for the faint of heart. Most of the depictions are extremely graphic, which makes the gut-wrencing scenes even more so.

There are two central themes here, and they are sex and obsession. The title implies that the central focus is threesomes, but this subject actually takes up a negligible amount of the book. Actually, threesomes are only the beginning. Soon, the intimate life of the main characters, Maya and Ilan, become more and more intense, spiralling into the almost fatal. Ilan wants to take Maya into deeper, darker places sexually, and this eventually turns into simulated rape, razor blades, and even guns.

Despite how horrific some of this can be, what really has the most impact here is Maya's emotions, and her willingness, and even enjoyment, of letting Ilan do these things. At times the reader thinks she truly does love him very deeply, but at other times it seems as if it's only an obsessive dependence. You'll wonder if she does these things because she really wants to, or only does it to make him happy. Ilan's real feelings for Maya are always in question.

The story is beautiful, almost stream-of-conciousness, and the feelings Ms. Hilden evokes with her amazing writing had me enthralled. The emotional impact it had on me was amazing, and at times I found myself surprisingly angry and horrified with the events.

But for all the horror, it is strangely erotic, although I wouldn't call this an erotic novel. Because of all Maya goes through, it had me nearly praying for a truly intimate and caring scene between Maya and Ilan. And there are unnumerable sex scenes.

This book has so much gut emotional impact, and beautiful writing, but I would only recommend it for those who don't mind possibly being shocked or apalled.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark and Compelling, September 1, 2003

By	Kim "Kim" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This book was not what I expected at all. The writing is compelling and it touches on some really dark subjects with an unexpected warmth and dimension.

This book is not really about threesomes, nor would I call it erotica although I see that it's listed as such and the bookjacket seems to give that idea.

This story is about the darkness inside of people, the places that exist beneath the surface, lurking in the shadows, waiting to unfurl.

While it seems at times that the darkness lies inside of Ilan, and he surely has some, it's really with Maya. Maya who loves and yet hates what Ilan is to her, what he evokes from her, the depths to which she's allowed herself to go because of him and yet when he's gone, the darkness isn't and she's left to confront and process her own part in the trauma he's wrought in her life.

The book is beautiful in a completely unique way, the writing is wonderful, the story is haunting and gut wrenching. It's an amazing and worthy read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Work of Genius, August 19, 2003

By A Customer

Easily the best book of the summer.

3 is the story of a relationship gone awry. Maya meets Ilan in college. They fall into a love that is both beautiful and terrifying and later marry. But the marriage is predicated on a bargain: Ilan will not give up other women, and Maya agrees to the infidelity as long as she is present. 3 then dissects the ramifications of this love. It is the story of what we will cede to another, what we will risk, and what we put ourselves through to find out who we really are.

The beauty of 3 is that it's a clean story with complex ramifications. Where so much modern fiction takes some convoluted (even tortuous) plot and deals with it superficially, Hilden takes a fundamental matter and unearths its every element. And this, will keep your heart beating fast, and your fingers turning pages late into the night.

I should say something about Hilden's writing as well. Hilden makes you feel what the characters feel. You are no longer reading about the characters, you are there with them, experiencing their lives with them, seeing the world as they do. For instance, there's a surgery scene in the book that when I read it I felt the same queasiness as if the surgery had happened to me. Hilden's powerful, even fearsome, writing will stay with you. So much so that the book becomes a part of your own past.

At once shocking and subtle, 3 is a must read.