What is the author's tone in the nonfiction book, Three Women?

Within her marriage, Sloane continually allows people to take control of her own narrative. For example, her experience with Richard is described not as what he she herself is necessarily feeling, but rather how he appears to her, trying to glean an inside look into his private thoughts. This sets the tone for their relationship, Sloane always seeming to be in a position where she needs to catch up to where her life has left her behind. She does not exhibit a marked change within the work to a more powerful stance.

Lina’s sections of the work are characterized by a tone of desperation and wanting. She is honest with herself about the waning passion in her marriage and her desire to be loved and wanted again, but she does not fully acknowledge to herself just how desperately she is pining after Aidan and the lower level of enthusiasm he displays. She has spent so many years chasing after Ed to make him love her, and the closeness she craves also cannot be found in Aidan.

The initial language of Maggie’s thoughts as she begins her relationship with Aaron, young and attempting to avoid what she views as parental overreach, reflects her hopelessness and desperation to be comforted. She clearly expresses how lucky she feels that somebody has taken an interest in her, displaying her low self-esteem. Despite this, Maggie’s description moves to a more powerful, future-looking mood when Aaron is named the teacher of the year, representing her presence in her own life. However, as the work continues, she begins understanding more about how she has changed and her own voice becomes much stronger. Her language becomes more aggressive and searching to reconcile who she is as a daughter. Maggie does not exhibit a desire to relinquish control to other people who will make decisions about her and her family’s future. Although she allows Aaron to dictate the terms of their relationship, she does not want to designate the responsibility to make all decisions to him. However, she is so desperate for love that she is only daring to question him internally.