Fiona Barton’s slippery debut is a top-notch addition to the growing field of psychological thrillers starring untrustworthy female characters, such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.
In the first chapter, readers learn a possible kidnapper and child molester is dead. Four years earlier, he was accused and tried for the disappearance of 2-year-old Bella Elliot, but found not guilty—in the legal sense. All of England was riveted to the trial, and the court of popular opinion considered him guilty. Now, in a freak accident, he has been run over by a bus and killed. In the immediate aftermath of his death, reporter Kate Waters seeks to interview his vulnerable widow, a woman who sometimes seems to know more than she’s letting on.
The intensity of the story comes from the three people who each share their perspectives of the events, as chapters alternate between the widow, the reporter and the detective assigned to solve the missing child case. Each telling takes up where the previous chapter left off, creating a continuous, intriguing storyline. These brilliantly crafted, revolving narratives form a realistic thriller that compels readers to continue reading, just as the detective compulsively continues to probe the case.
Readers will question what the widow knows—and when she first knew it. Through the three-pronged narrative, The Widow examines the depths of what spouses really know about each other and how they respond to each other’s needs. It also serves as a cautionary tale of Internet exposure.
