The Widow by Fiona Barton

The Widow

By Fiona Barton

Published by Transworld (14 January 2016)

ISBN: 978- 0593076217

Publisher's description

We've all seen him: the man - the monster - staring from the front page of every newspaper, accused of a terrible crime.

But what about her: the woman who grips his arm on the courtroom stairs – the wife who stands by him?

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.

Jean Taylor is going to tell us what she knows.

My verdict

The Widow has a clever plot concept. A man who was accused of being a paedophile and killer has died in a tragic accident. Now his widow Jean speaks out about the past. The book is narrated by various different people (the widow, a journalist, a police officer etc) so you get to read different sides of the same story (in the past and present). The only person who can't tell his side is the accused.

Jean's unreliability was an important aspect of the plot. I expected her to be much older from the narrative and dialogue, and I was shocked when her actual age was revealed around a third into the book. Overall, The Widow was an enjoyable read. I was expecting a massive twist towards the end, one that I hadn't predicted, but sadly it didn't come.

This book is well written and will certainly attract psychological thriller fans. Fans of The Girl on the Train and Disclaimer, in particular, are likely to love it. I can see it being a bestseller for 2016.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.