Friday 13 October 2017

Book Review: The widow - F. Barton


“I remember looking at him lying there in a small pool of blood and thinking ‘oh well, that’s the end of his nonsense” 

I definitely liked this psychological thriller, very gripping and engrossing. Told mainly from the "widow" perspective, this is a book about crime but also, and probably more, about dysfunctional marriages and unbalanced power in a couple. 
I personally find difficult to empathizes with the "widow", as in I don't think I could live in a such a bubble and not face the truth, however I know that there are a lot of women out there that are subdued to their partners and they are psychologically very dependent on them. So this story can happen, has happened before and this is probably what I liked in the book, it kind of explains the "how can these things happen", which is what we normally ask ourselves after reading the news.
The "monster" in the novel does not appear to be a monster at all, but he is actually thought as a loving, caring husband by his wife. And it is just when he is gone that she feels an impossible weight coming off her shoulders.
I appreciated very much the character of the journalist, who finally convinces the widow to release an interview. A person who can listen and can pierce through people and get them to confess their deepest secrets.
A very interesting thriller, read in a flash, and I will definitely read also The child from the same author. I am also very excited to meet Fiona Barton, together with other writers, on Saturday 14th October at the readers' day at Guildford Book Festival!!  

Overall rating: 7,5      Plot: 7,5     Writing style: 7      Cover:  6,5


Title: The widow
Author: Fiona Barton
Publisher: Corgi 
Pages: 400
Publication year: 2016

Plot:
Jean Taylor’s life was blissfully ordinary. Nice house, nice husband. Glen was all she’d ever wanted: her Prince Charming. 
Until he became that man accused, that monster on the front page. Jean was married to a man everyone thought capable of unimaginable evil.
But now Glen is dead and she’s alone for the first time, free to tell her story on her own terms.


The Author:
Fiona Barton (Cambridge, 1957)  trains and works with journalists all over the world. Previously, she was a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.

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