Job Search Scrap Trading Books News Scholarship Website
The Widow - Fiona Barton

The Widow

By Fiona Barton

  • Release Date: 2016-02-16
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 2,161 Ratings

Description

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A twisted psychological thriller you’ll have trouble putting down.”—People

“If you liked Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, you might want to pick up The Widow by Fiona Barton. Engrossing. Suspenseful.”—Stephen King

Following the twists and turns of an unimaginable crime, The Widow is an electrifying debut thriller that will take you into the dark spaces that exist between a husband and a wife.

There’s a lot Jean hasn’t said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment.
 
Now her husband is dead, and there’s no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. She can tell them that there were secrets. There always are in a marriage.
 
The truth—that’s all anyone wants. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything...

An NPR Best Book of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal’s 5 “Killer Books” of the Year
Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

Includes a Readers Guide and an excerpt of Fiona Barton’s The Child

Reviews

  • Well-Written but Not Well-Paced

    3
    By Persypie
    Was spellbound in the beginning but the book dragged on for too long. It spelled out the culprit from the start, which is fine, but without any mystery I found myself just waiting for it to wrap up. Very well written and excellent marks for style.
  • The Widow

    5
    By Deb & Doug
    Spellbinding. You are never quite sure until the end how this will end
  • It was ok

    2
    By NurseHil07
    It took me almost two weeks to finish this book. I forced myself to get to the end of it. It had no twist or turns and was a book I could definitely put down. This was nothing in comparison to the girl on the train.
  • Need better ending

    3
    By Sdfrdeghfrjed
    The ending just stopped so abruptly I didn’t even know it was over. Makes me not even want to try another story that will end in the same manner
  • Don’t Bother

    2
    By electric.amplified
    I’m not a negative person, but this is overly long and has no twists at all. Easy to figure out and then you still have another 200 pages to read only for you to get to the end and say, “oh I thought so”. I love Stephen King, but someone must have paid him a lot of money for that quote that’s on the cover of the book. Girl on the Train is also referenced as a “similar book”, but that book surpasses this one by far.
  • Loved it.

    5
    By pinksuede27
    Loved reading this book and the different perspectives. I loved following all the characters and truly getting to know them.
  • The Widow

    5
    By 1KBA
    Excellent read!
  • Disturbing topic but well done

    5
    By NYYazFan
    It’s a difficult subject but well written. I read it in a day as I had to know how it was going to end. The reporter Kate is in at least one other book found at the end of this one another difficult subject. I’m going to follow this author.
  • Often hard to follow

    3
    By HMF14
    There were slightly too many viewpoints and too many timelines in the structure that made it difficult to follow. Many parts were also too disturbing to enjoy, even for the mystery. The resolution also was not satisfying and I still was unclear on how it’d been resolved. However, the first half of the book was quite strong and engaging. Worth a read nonetheless, if you enjoy the psychological thriller genre.
  • Lots of handwringing, little character development

    1
    By j_v_b_33
    One of those books I forced myself to finish because I paid for it. Wished for “more” the whole time I was reading: more plot development (don’t tell me you didn’t figure all of it out within the first 20 pages) , more character development (I couldn’t connect with a single one), more. . .twists? Intrigue? It read like it was supposed to be suspenseful when you actually knew what happened right from the start.

Comments