What do readers think of The Widow by Fiona Barton? Write your own review.

You never really know what goes on with families behind closed doors, and this is one of those stories. you have a husband and wife, a single mother caring for a small child, the police, and a reporter. The story is told through varying years of the incident where the 2 year old daughter has disappeared, and the chapters are told through the widow, the detective, the mother, the reporter, and the husband. This approach did take some getting used to because I had to remember which character was narrating and what year was being discussed. Once that was worked out the story flowed pretty well, where you find out exactly what type of people you are actually dealing with, and how/why the child may have disappeared. It is one of those books where you are kept guessing to the end.

Well-written debut that leaves the reader hanging until the end. The subject matter verges on "creepy" and the slow pace of the book often left me wishing it would move a bit faster. However, Barton kept me intrigued about the outcome even when I didn't want to know more about the subject matter. I couldn't find any characters that rallied my empathy as most were filled with huge personality deficits. Nonetheless, I was glad I read to the end because though I had made many guesses about how the book would conclude, I was still surprised at the outcome. I hope the author writes another novel in the near future, but I would prefer something with a different theme. Definitely not holiday reading.

There's a lot of hype on the covers of this book, which to me was unnecessary, because the story was told with a lot of suspense and mystery, something you can sink your teeth into. I liked it, especially the last 30 pages or so. 4 stars

How well do we really know someone, even our spouse? "The Widow". Is a skillfully told story alternating in time and from different points of view. The reader is led through layers of the dark world of the pedophile. Book clubs will argue whether or not a wife "knows". The author makes a great case why she may not. Fast read with a nice twist.

From the beginning, the reader watches the dark threads of this story twist and twine then slowly unravel, revealing its secrets. With its fast pace and interesting characters, this is a novel of quiet tension and suspense.

I was interested in reading this book as it was compared to Gone Girl and other recent books with unreliable narrators. The first part of the book was great; the second half not so much. The reader has to pay attention to the times listed at the beginning of each chapter as the focus shifts from past to present and back again...the theme involving child abuse etc is a dark one, although no details are given. I did find the ending to be sort of a let-down; I kept thinking I was missing something. Overall an OK read.

"The Widow" is a disturbing book. The story is not new--the abduction of a small child--but the psychology of the wife of the perpetrator is of interest. We all wonder how such women could be oblivious to the secrets, or are compliant with the actions, of their husbands. In "The Widow", we see how a husband grooms a wife to become so dependent and so servile that she rarely communicates with other people, and seldom has her own thoughts or opinions. So, in this book, Jean dismisses Glen's "hobby" (watching child porn) as"that nonsense." Almost every time the criminal case of a vanished child is uncovered, there is such a flaccid or brainwashed woman in the kidnapper's life, seemingly blandly shrugging aside clues, while regarding herself as a sentient being; and she therefore slips into the role of aiding and abetting. This novel is not for the faint of heart; it's an unsettling study of how this situation comes about. Readers of true crime novels might appreciate this.

Fiona Barton's "The Widow" is a debut novel. Taking into account Barton's newness in the psychological thriller genre, the book is engaging, but has a few troublesome areas.

The novel has a respectable plot that moves quickly. Barton also creates memorable and sympathetic characters. However, the author often abruptly shifts in time from 2006, when two-year-old Bella Elliot is kidnapped, to 2010, when Glen Taylor, the accused, dies. The book focuses more on how Taylor's widow, Jean, handles the aftermath of Glen's dishonesty. The jumps in time spoil some of the fun in finding out what happens to the characters.