The Widow by Fiona Barton

We've all seen him: the man - the monster - staring from the front page of every newspaper, accused of a terrible crime.

But what about her: the woman who grips his arm on the courtroom stairs – the wife who stands by him?

Jean Taylor’s life was blissfully ordinary. Nice house, nice husband. Glen was all she’d ever wanted: her Prince Charming. 

Until he became that man accused, that monster on the front page. Jean was married to a man everyone thought capable of unimaginable evil.

But now Glen is dead and she’s alone for the first time, free to tell her story on her own terms.

Jean Taylor is going to tell us what she knows.

When I read the synopsis for The Widow I loved the idea behind it as it was something new for me reading about a child abduction but from the view of the suspected abductors wife.

She only left her for minutes but that was long enough for Dawn to have her world turn upside down when little Bella was taken from her front garden. As the search begins to find Bella little leads are found and various people are under suspicion but the main focus soon falls to Glen Taylor but will all the leads tie up and point solely to him?

 As soon as I started this book I was hooked, it was such a pacey read and the short sharp chapters alternated between the various characters in this book which allowed me to see a bigger picture from different points of view. It did take me a while to get used to the structure of the book because not only does the chapters alternate between characters it also goes back and forward in time but before long I settled into the flow of the book.

Jeanie was a complex character for me at times I could see a weakness and vulnerability to her, seeming like a typical woman next door but there was also a side to her that had me suspicious. She isn’t a character to warm to but I found her to be a very intriguing character. The author has developed the characters in this book extremely well, she has obviously taken time and research into the actions of people who stand on the side lines and has put these fine points into Jeanie.

There are other various sinister issues covered in this book alongside abduction which all help make this book a gritty and disturbing read at times. The authors writing style is descriptive and easy to follow.

This would have easily been a 4 star read for me but there was something that let this book down for me the fact that the whole way through I was waiting for a sudden twist as it constantly felt like it was building up to a shock revelation but this never happened so I was left a little flat and now having finished the book I can say that the first half of this book was much better than the second half as it felt a little drawn out.

I look forward to reading another book by this author as she does show great promise in her writing and she has tackled a great concept in this book I just want to see how her writing progresses in her next book.

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