Book Review: The Widow by Fiona Barton

The Widow

by

Fiona Barton

I first became aware of The Widow by Fiona Barton towards the end of 2015. So many people on Twitter were saying that this is the book to watch out for in 2016 and that if you love psychological thrillers then you have to read this. I read into it and pre-ordered it straight away. I did read this book early on in 2016 so apologies for the late review.

"A spine chilling & dark story that makes you question, do you really know your neighbours? - A cracking debut"

Précis (taken from the cover):

The Wife:

Jean Taylor’s life was blissfully ordinary. Nice house, nice husband. Glen was all she’d ever wanted: her Prince Charming. But then everything changed.

The Husband:

The newspapers found a new name for Glen: MONSTER, they shrieked. Jean was married to a man accused of the unimaginable. And as the years ticked by, with no sign of the little girl he has been accused of taking, their lives were constantly splashed across the front pages.

The Widow:

But now Glen is dead and she's alone for the first time, free to tell her story on her own terms.

Jean Taylor is going to tell us what she knows.

Review:

As stated above I had heard a lot about this book before it was published and I was really looking forward to reading it. Sometimes I worry when you get your hopes up about a book, or a film in that matter, because there is that chance that it is a disappointment. This book however was not. I thought it was cracking. I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers. Each new book has its own way of telling the story and I really liked how this was written. It flicked between the characters and the narration became theirs. It also went from present day to time in the past which I also liked. By doing this it is as though two stories are being told. and they both are built up together and then join right at the end.

The story itself is very dark and may not be for everyone, especially when children are involved, but life is a horrible place sometimes and these things do happen. I have always said that you never really know someone and what people are like behind closed doors and after reading this, I may be even more suspicious about everyone. 

The characters was brilliantly written. Jean Taylor (The Widow) was the main character even though the main story was about what her husband had or had not done. You also had the police's view along with Kate Waters a journalist that is running the lead on this story. Kate was my favourite character from the book as she was that typical journalist that would do or say anything to get that story. It was also a different and interesting take on the story, as most books you will just get the police along with the victims and suspects.

Was there anything I did not like about this book? Well only one small thing really. With most psychological thrillers each chapter ends either on a cliff hanger, makes you gasp out loud or gets you to question something to get you to read on. I found that a few chapters in this book ended quite flat and it meant not having that spark. This however did not take away the overall pleasure of the book.

I scored this book a 4.5 out of 5. If you love thrillers or psychological thrillers and you have not read this yet then I would recommend that you give it a go.

Fiona Barton's next book The Child is out around June of 2017 and brings back the journalist Kate Waters, so I will be definitely be buying this.

Has anyone else read this book? do you agree with me or not? I would love to find out, so let me know.

Speak soon,

CBailey31