The Widow by Fiona Barton

The Widow by Fiona Barton is a wonderful debut. It starts in the aftermath of the death of Jean Taylor’s husband Glen, who supposedly jumped in front of a bus after years of being hounded by the police (and the media) for the murder of a young girl. Jean is a quiet, meek and docile housewife, and the death of her controlling husband offers up the chance to break out of her claustrophobic life and tell her side of the story to an enterprising reporter, Kate Waters. Barton uses the varying points of view of Jean, Kate, a police detective, and the young girl’s mother to carefully unravel the full story of what happened to little Bella, and who the real culprit was. While some aspects of the story are slightly obvious, and others disturbing (there’s some child molestation and pornography thrown in there), overall they are carefully used and don’t seem gratuitous. And by the end you’ll be left wondering who was really using who to further their own agenda.

You can’t escape the hype and the comparisons to Girl on a Train or Gone Girl with this book, and I don’t really want to weigh in on that other than to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this read as much as those other two novels. It’s not exactly alike or exactly as shocking in the reveal, but that would be derivative and boring wouldn’t it? So, read The Widow for its own merits, a carefully and well-written story that is sure to leave you with the chills and creeps for days to come.