Readers worldwide were talking about THE WIDOW well before its publication. The word was that it was going to be the next (fill in the name of a few bestsellers over the last two years or so) and would be worth reading. I found it to be a one-sit read that you may never forget, full of twists and turns and the unknown that gently defy expectations as they lead to a shattering ending. It’s too early to say for certain, but my prediction is that it will eclipse the books to which it was compared. It’s that good.

Fiona Barton may be a debut author, but she is not new to writing. She is a highly respected British journalist who has been featured in a number of high-profile newspapers, and more recently worked as a volunteer aiding oppressed journalists worldwide. Her inaugural novel does not follow the classical narrative that readers might initially expect. THE WIDOW switches points of view and time, jumping frequently among characters as well as the present and past. Fortunately, these changes are clearly delineated, a courtesy that makes this fast-moving, well-written work even easier to follow. The viewpoints presented are those of Jean Taylor (The Widow), DI Bob Sparkes (The Detective), Kate Waters (The Reporter), Dawn Elliott (The Mother) and Glen Taylor (The Husband).

"...an emotionally powerful novel. None of the characters emerge from the ending in quite the same state as they entered, and I daresay any reader won’t either. I had quite a dramatic emotional reaction to the conclusion; I would guess that it was a painful book to write, but what a wondrous, bittersweet work it is to read."

As THE WIDOW opens in June 2010, Glen has just been killed in a bus accident. We learn almost immediately that he was not a nice person. He was manipulative, controlling, secretive and borderline emotionally abusive. What is gradually revealed is that Glen is the primary suspect in the abduction of a little girl named Bella Elliott, who went missing from her yard in 2006 and hasn’t been seen since. Bob, an honest, driven and relentless detective, has good reason to suspect Glen of the abduction, but he doesn’t have all the pieces for a conviction, including an eyewitness or a body. Kate is a force of nature, convinced that Jean knows much more about Glen’s role in Bella’s abduction than she may have revealed to the world during the attendant publicity that has played out over the four years between Bella’s vanishing and Glen’s untimely death. Dawn is understandably grief-stricken, yet there is some question as to whether or not she is enjoying the secondary gain that has backwashed from public sympathy over her apparent tragedy.

The story --- the true story --- gradually unfolds, with Kate and Bob occasionally the victims of some misdirection but relentless in their separate yet somewhat parallel pursuits. We also see, as the the narrative shifts back and forth in time, how Glen manipulates Kate in matters consequential and otherwise. Through (almost) all of the book, however, Barton keeps the reader guessing, not only with respect to Bella’s final fate but also as to who was behind it, and who may have known more than they revealed.

Be warned: THE WIDOW is an emotionally powerful novel. None of the characters emerge from the ending in quite the same state as they entered, and I daresay any reader won’t either. I had quite a dramatic emotional reaction to the conclusion; I would guess that it was a painful book to write, but what a wondrous, bittersweet work it is to read.