The Widow by Fiona Barton
The Widow provides such an interesting story concept, one that I have never heard of before. The story is about a woman, Jean Taylor, who was married to a man who was suspected of committing a crime, when her husband dies, reporters and the police come back around to find out if her husband actually committed it. When Jean decides to let a reporter into her house, Jean becomes conflicted on whether to tell the truth or not.
I had a hard time putting this book down, just because all of the characters were so interesting. Watching Jean Taylor going back and forth between remaining loyal to her dead husband or breaking free and finally thinking for herself was an exciting will-she-won't-she scenario. Kate Waters, the reporter, was another character I really enjoyed. Although she is older than me and has her life more together than I do, I found her ambition very relatable. I loved that she was such a strong, female reporter. It is not something we see much of in novels.
The story is told incredibility through flashback and through the perspectives of various characters. Normally, I am personally not a huge fan of using both in a novel, because I think it is very hard to do so without flaw. Barton used each chapter to clearly label who was speaking and announced the date on which the event was taking place. Simple, and smart, I was a huge fan and made it that much more enjoyable to read!
Favorite Quotes:
"'When you're talking to real people-people without an ego or something to sell-it can be complete exposure of one person to another, an intense intimacy that excludes everyone and everything else,' she'd told someone once."
"Other policemen stayed at the house to ask me questions, to root around in our lives, but through it all, going around and around my brain, I kept thinking about his face and how I didn't know him for a second."
"Perhaps he just doesn't feel things the way other people do."
"I go to smile, then realize they're not friends. They're something else. They're the press."
"'But none of us are completely innocent, are we?'"
