Book Review: The Pilot's Wife

From Goodreads: Who can guess what a woman will do when the unthinkable becomes her reality? From the bestselling author of THE WEIGHT OF WATER, this enormously gripping and powerfully wrought novel asks the questions we all have about ourselves and definitively places Anita Shreve among the ranks of the best novelists writing today. Being married to a pilot has taught Kathryn Lyons to be ready for emergencies, but nothing has prepared her for the late-night knock on her door and the news of her husband's fatal crash. As Kathryn struggles through her grief, she is forced to confront disturbing rumours about the man she loved and the life that she took for granted. Torn between her impulse to protect her husband's memory and her desire to know the truth, Kathryn sets off to find out if she ever really knew the man who was her husband. In her determination to test the truth of her marriage, she faces shocking revelations about the secrets a man can keep and the actions a woman is willing to take.

Thoughts: Another second hand book buy. Shreve is one those authors I've always meant to read, but have never got around to it. (holidays are great for those types of authors!) I figured for $3 I really couldn't go too wrong. If worse came to worse I'd leave it in the cabin for the next person.

The Pilot's Wife was very enjoyable. A few plot holes, a few things a bit far fetched, but on the whole good – great holiday fodder. I didn't pick the twist at the end but it was a bit far fetched for me. What the book did do however, was make me wonder what it would be like to lose my husband (maybe that bit wasn't so good for a holiday...). I started reading it sitting on a beach while my husband spear fished. In this situation I frequently look up to “lay eyes” on him. At times it can take awhile to spot him, raising my anxiety levels somewhat. So here I was, just before Christmas, reading about a woman who lost her husband just before Christmas, unable to spot my husband who was spear fishing. Not surprisingly my mind went to that dark place you really don't want it to go. Thankfully hubby bought popped up reassuring me that everything was ok this time. Shreve takes her character to that dark place and then adds some extra issues just to really drip her in it. As I said, this made great holiday reading and I can imagine reading more of her stuff.