Apple TV’s new series Imperfect Women is the latest entry in the “good for her!” genre: where you can’t help but cheer on women who make morally gray choices — usually in response to the awful men in their lives.
Based on Araminta Hall’s 2021 novel of the same name, the series follows longtime besties Eleanor, Mary, and Nancy (Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, and Kate Mara) whose lives are rocked by an affair, murder, and all the mysterious fallout.
The series (streaming now) does make a few changes from its source material, starting with shifting the action from England to California. “That led to new story surprises that maybe fans of the book will be surprised by,” creator Annie Weisman recently told TV Insider.
But if you want a general sense of what might be in store, here’s the book ending and plot summary of Imperfect Women.
A Deadly Affair
Hall’s novel begins with a disturbing discovery: Nancy has been found dead by a river, and her injuries point to a struggle before she ultimately fell (or was pushed) from the bridge above.
Eleanor tells authorities and Nancy’s husband, Robert, that Nancy had been having an affair for the past year — and at dinner the night she died, she told Eleanor she was on her way to end things with the unidentified man. In the wake of Nancy’s death, Eleanor and Robert begin a private relationship.
Later, in a flashback section of the novel told through Nancy’s POV, it’s revealed that her lover was Howard, Mary’s husband.
In the months following Nancy’s murder, Howard has an apparent breakdown and is afflicted with a mysterious illness. Mary acts as his caregiver, and when looking through his things for insurance information, she finds proof of Nancy and Howard’s affair.
Settling The Score
Mary later learns that her son, Marcus, knew about the affair. Upset for his mom, he’d tracked down Howard on the evening that Nancy died. Howard and Nancy were meeting for what Nancy hoped would be the last time — but Howard was unwilling to let her go.
A fight between the father and son ensued, and Nancy tried to protect Marcus by putting her arms around him. But in the heat of the moment, Marcus pushed Nancy away, and she fell off the bridge.
Heartbroken for both Marcus and Nancy, Mary kills Howard by giving him too many painkillers. The novel ends with both Eleanor and Mary letting go of their guilt and happily embracing their identities as “imperfect women.”
