02/06/2017
Meyers (The Murderer’s Daughter) explores the dynamics of the 20th-century bedroom and boardroom in this novel. Phoebe and Jake meet in high school, quickly falling in love despite her mother’s concerns that Phoebe is moving too fast. As they move through college and the early years of their careers, Jake’s unbridled ambition brings wealth and comfort, but at a cost: Jake is needy and manipulative, demanding that Phoebe’s goals take a backseat from the very early days of their relationship. Unwilling to acknowledge his wife’s own ambition (to care for others, rather than earn a profit), Jake is blinded to all but the careful curation of a life he always dreamed of, making pawns of everything around him in order to do it. It’s only too late that Phoebe learns the brokerage and investment firm that she and Jake have been building for decades was little more than a con, landing him in prison and leaving her picking up the pieces of a life she’d thought was secure. Carefully written to gradually expose the emotional hold Jake builds over his wife, the novel is an engaging and sharp reflection of the rapid changes in marital dynamics over the course of the 20th century, as well as a cautionary tale about the dangers and allure of ambition in the heyday of Wall Street. (Apr.)
The Widow of Wall Street: A Novel
Narrated by Susan Bennett
Randy Susan MeyersUnabridged — 11 hours, 19 minutes
The Widow of Wall Street: A Novel
Narrated by Susan Bennett
Randy Susan MeyersUnabridged — 11 hours, 19 minutes
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Overview
Editorial Reviews
Dives fearlessly into a tense and emotional story of two sisters anchored to one irreversible act of domestic violence."
Praise for Accidents of Marriage
"This novel's unsparing look at emotional abuse and its devastating consequences gives it gravity and bite, while a glimpse into a physically damaged mind both surprises and fascinates."
All too believable and heartbreaking.
"Meyers has crafted an absorbing and layered drama that explores the complexities of infidelity, forgiveness, and family.
Unshakable truths at every turn.
Praise for The Murderer's Daughters
“From the very first page and straight on until the last, the clear and distinctive voice of Randy Susan Meyers’s will have you enraptured and wanting more—even though self- preservation may curl you into a ball to shield yourself from the painful circumstances of the two sisters. This is a heart- breaking and powerful novel.
Randy Susan Meyers made me feel, on a visceral level, the giddiness of Phoebe and Jake’s rise to power and the mounting panic as their lives and marriage began to crumble. Brilliantly executed and beautifully written.
A complex, captivating tale.
When Phoebe and Jake Pierce meet as teenagers, she knows he’s someone on the way up, and she wants to be there as he climbs the Wall Street ladder. He gets everything he ever wanted. When it turns out that Jake’s success rests on a huge Ponzi scheme, Phoebe has to make an excruciating choice.”
Praise for The Widow of Wall Street
“As this compelling story unfolds, you realize nothing is as uncomplicated as it seems, especially when you've been married almost 50 years and you take so seriously your marital vows because you felt both gratitude and debt when you uttered those words.
“Randy Susan Meyers borrowed a real-life story for the building blocks of her fourth novel, “The Widow of Wall Street,” which chronicles a couple’s marriage as they amass great wealth and then lose it all when the husband is revealed to have committed financial fraud. Heartbreaking.
Phoebe falls for Jake Pierce hard when they’re still just teenagers: She seems to know even before he does that he’ll go on to conquer a financial empire and rule the Wall Street scene. But the dirty secret behind Jake’s success will eventually become the downfall of this couples’ glittering life together think of The Widow of Wall Street as The Wolf of Wall Street — except told from the side of the wife, more scintillating, and a testament to the power of a woman’s ability to survive it all — it’s a must-read that will dazzle and repel you, in equal measure."
Praise for The Comfort of Lies
"This meaningful novel is, at its heart, a multi-faceted love story. It's about how people do the wrong things for the right reasons and vice versa. This is the story of the ways that families— bonded by blood and by choice— can save or slay us. With a vision that is generous, yet unsentimental, The Comfort Of Lies is a testimony to the healing power of the truth."
A provocative tale of loyalty and morality, this novel will introduce you to the scandalous side of New York.
"A riveting and engrossing read that I finished in one greedy gulp.
"A ripped-from-the-headlines story about love, ambition, and forgiveness."
"Unputdownable and unforgettable . . . It’s one of the most memorable stories about a marriage I’ve ever read."
I dare you not to read Randy Susan Meyers’ The Widow of Wall Street in one big gulp. A fascinating page turner that somehow manages both to indict and absolve.
When Phoebe and Jake Pierce meet as teenagers, she knows he’s someone on the way up, and she wants to be there as he climbs the Wall Street ladder. He gets everything he ever wanted. When it turns out that Jake’s success rests on a huge Ponzi scheme, Phoebe has to make an excruciating choice.”
Praise for The Murderer's Daughters
“From the very first page and straight on until the last, the clear and distinctive voice of Randy Susan Meyers’s will have you enraptured and wanting more--even though self- preservation may curl you into a ball to shield yourself from the painful circumstances of the two sisters. This is a heart- breaking and powerful novel.
Praise for The Murderer's Daughters
“From the very first page and straight on until the last, the clear and distinctive voice of Randy Susan Meyers’s will have you enraptured and wanting more—even though self- preservation may curl you into a ball to shield yourself from the painful circumstances of the two sisters. This is a heart- breaking and powerful novel.
When Phoebe and Jake Pierce meet as teenagers, she knows he’s someone on the way up, and she wants to be there as he climbs the Wall Street ladder. He gets everything he ever wanted. When it turns out that Jake’s success rests on a huge Ponzi scheme, Phoebe has to make an excruciating choice.”
All too believable and heartbreaking.
"Meyers has crafted an absorbing and layered drama that explores the complexities of infidelity, forgiveness, and family.
Praise for The Widow of Wall Street
“As this compelling story unfolds, you realize nothing is as uncomplicated as it seems, especially when you've been married almost 50 years and you take so seriously your marital vows because you felt both gratitude and debt when you uttered those words.
"A ripped-from-the-headlines story about love, ambition, and forgiveness."
Meyers paints a brutal, revealing tale of a woman with everything to lose."
If you enjoy dark fiction about family relationships and deception, keep an eye out for a new novel coming out this April from bestselling author Randy Susan Meyers. The Widow of Wall Street opens in 2009 with a visit to the Ray Brook Federal Correctional Institution, where Phoebe Pierce’s husband, Jake, is imprisoned on fraud charges following the discovery of the elaborate Ponzi scheme upon which he built their fortune. The novel follows Phoebe from the beginnings of her relationship with Jake in the summer of 1960 through the present day, living with her husband’s notoriety and the world’s censure and suspicion, reminding readers with that sparkly city skyline that all that glitters is not gold.”
“The Murderer’s Daughters will have you enraptured and wanting more.
Praise for The Murderer’s Daughters:
“All too believable and heartbreaking.
I devoured this big-hearted story of three women whose lives collide years after a baby is put up for adoption.
"A deft exploration of the borders of abuse and the aftermath of tragedy, the triumphs and disappointments of recovery, and the possibilities of faith and forgiveness."
"The intertwined traumas of emotional abuse and brain injury careen through every family member in this disturbing and deeply insightful story. Meyers captures the necessity and complexity of excavating the truth as the foundation of life moving forward."
"A bold and poignant look into the complicated, slippery world of what constitutes emotional abuse, Accidents of Marriage explores what happens when tragic circumstance forces one family to reexamine the dysfunctional dynamics that have long-defined them. Meyers deftly pulled me in to this story from the first page, tying me to its tender and fearless heartbeat, and didn't let me go until the extremely satisfying end."
"Every marriage has its secret deals and compromises. In Accidents of Marriage, Randy Susan Meyers explores the vast complexity of this bond and lays out how passion, allegiance and love can go terribly wrong. She gives us characters we root for, even when they’re at odds, and she asks the questions:What is forgivable? When does a marriage become too broken to fix? With wisdom, humor and great compassion, Meyers answers in a story you won’t soon forget."
"Randy Susan Meyers is a genius of the human heart, and Accidents of Marriage is a profound education on the complexities of love, imperfection, damage, and responsibility. You'll feel as though a magically insightful friend is sharing the behind-the-scenes secrets of a family you may well know. She tells it like it is. No sugar-coating here, only truth in all its compelling beauty and might."
"With the heart of a novelist and the tenacity of an investigative journalist, Meyers flawlessly depicts the evolution and consequences of emotional abuse. A master of perspective with an uncanny understanding of human nature, she has managed to make us empathize with every member of this damaged family. This is an important story, one I’ll be thinking about for a long time."
"I read Accidents of Marriage in one day. Like Meyers' first two novels, this one—about a family paying a high price for rage and trying to reknit itself in the aftermath of the unthinkable—is compulsive reading. It's amazing how warm Meyers' writing is even as her stories grip you by the hand and don't let go."
"An incredibly accomplished and satisfying read, with an important message."
"Maddy and Ben have a complicated marriage. He’s got anger issues; she is messy and forgetful. One fateful morning these character traits clash – with devastating consequences. In this beautifully written novel, Randy Susan Meyers traces how the repercussions of a car accident expose fissures and long-held resentments from the past that force these characters to question everything. This is a wise and penetrating book.
"Meyers writes compellingly; Maddy’s recovery is detailed and wrenching, as are vivid portraits of the children’s reactions to their family’s turmoil."
02/15/2017
Phoebe and Jake fell in love when they were teens and married young. Jake, having a knack for numbers, slowly built himself up in the financial industry, creating a dynasty by the time he was an adult. He, Phoebe, and their two children never want for anything. However, as it turns out, Jake has been supporting his family under the shroud of an elaborate Ponzi scheme that went on for much longer than he thought possible. Everyone's world unravels as he is discovered, leaving Phoebe to decide if she should stand by him for better or worse—even if that means leaving their children. Meyers (Accidents of Marriage) once again pulls the reader into an tangled marriage, this time through the lens of the financial world. Full of deceit, scandal, and guilt, her novel expertly explores how rising to the top only to hit rock bottom affects a family. The consequences will leave readers reeling, as Phoebe struggles to understand Jake's reasons and redefine her life in the aftermath. VERDICT The perfect read for women's fiction lovers with an interest in finance. [See Prepub Alert, 10/31/16.]—Erin Holt, Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN
2016-12-26
Meyers explores the troubled relationship between a couple during the husband's rise to riches and subsequent disgrace in a novel that mirrors the story of jailed financier Bernard Madoff and his broken family.Phoebe and Jake have been together since their teens, and when Phoebe—as a young college student—becomes pregnant by one of her professors, she makes Jake think it's his child and they marry following a miscarriage. Jake then launches a legitimate brokerage, but his big moneymaker is something he calls The Club, a private investment company reserved exclusively for the well-heeled who measure up to his standards. The Club isn't exactly aboveboard: it's basically a Ponzi scheme and a way for Jake to skim large amounts of money from investors and line his own pockets while roping in more accounts. As Jake robs Peter to pay Paul, the story follows Phoebe's venture into motherhood with two children, Noah and Katie, and her metamorphosis into Jake's accomplice as he uses her to bring in more investors. This is a great read, even when the characters are shallow and self-absorbed. Phoebe comes across as a decent but clueless woman who wants to do the right thing but ends up ignoring all the signs that Jake's business isn't what it appears to be. The couple revels in their expensive lifestyle, with plates that cost more than many people make in a month and closets full of silk and cashmere. And while the journey Phoebe makes from pampered grand dame in a penthouse to humiliated pauper living hand to mouth is compelling, readers may find themselves skimming some of the more technical details of Jake's finances. The plot is hardly unique, but the author's skillful writing overcomes the "been there, read that" feeling. An engrossing emotional journey.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940175518062 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Dreamscape Media |
| Publication date: | 04/25/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
The Widow of Wall Street
Phoebe
November 2009
Phoebe never hated her husband more than when she visited him in prison. The preceding nightmare of ordeals—eleven hours hauling a suitcase by bus, train, and cab, her muscles screaming from the weight—were the coming attractions of the misery she faced the next day.
She arrived at the grimy hotel close to midnight. Without sleep, exhaustion would lengthen every minute tomorrow. After wrestling her luggage to the bed, Phoebe thumbed through a small stack of folded sweaters, hoping they would withstand the raw weather. So many never-envisioned experiences: riding a dingy Greyhound bus; drowning ramen noodles in a hotel coffee maker; choosing clothes to wear to Ray Brook Federal Correctional Institution—and then envisioning her choice through her husband’s eyes.
Each month, Jake became more of an albatross, and yet, even now, through tooth-grinding anger, Phoebe found herself still seeking his approving smile and the satisfaction of soothing his melancholy.
Phoebe worried how long she could, would, continue making the long trip to this prison in upstate New York. One hour farther and she’d be in Canada. To stop visiting required strength she hadn’t yet found—loving and worrying about Jake had been her default for too long—so she agonized about everything from prison conversation to the choice between wearing a cardigan or crewneck sweater.
“Why won’t you stay longer?” She dreaded hearing those words Jake repeated every visit. “Other wives come Saturday and Sunday, not for a measly few hours.”
She’d stare just as she had before. Silent, hoping her eyes might express the command she couldn’t speak: Screw yourself, Jake. Her husband, once a titan—a god—now whined like a child.
What she said: “A few hours is plenty.”
What she didn’t say: Two days would kill me.
What he said: “Getting out after three hours must be nice.”
What he probably meant: I hate you for being free.
What she said: “Staying here must be hard.”
What she didn’t say: Leaving is deliverance from you.
Then she’d change the topic—a difficult task with a world of off-limit issues: The kids. Jake’s guilt. Her lack of money. Her not knowing this man; this fraud of a husband who steamrolled over her desperation to unravel the tangled skein of their past.
She held up first a soft white turtleneck, and then a subdued blue cardigan, and finally a camel-colored blazer. Jake liked her to dress sharp. Even in prison he demanded that she reflect well on him. How ironic. Yet, after building her life on pleasing Jake—even after him swindling her and everyone else in his life—she couldn’t shake the habit of following his orders.
Phoebe also needed to please her other husband, the new authority in her life—the Federal Bureau of Prisons—and adhering to the prison’s rules for visitors meant dressing to its standards.
“Visitors are held to a dress code before being admitted into the institution.”
Stark divisions outlined her life. Before, she would wander through the highest-end stores clutching fabric from an old Caribbean-blue dress, a shade that brightened her eyes, to match that color in a sweater. After . . .
“Visitors wearing transparent clothing, dresses, blouses or other apparel of a suggestive or revealing nature, halter tops, short shorts, miniskirts, culottes, or excessively tight fitting clothing will not be admitted into the institution.”
Too tired to concentrate, she placed her wardrobe choices on the extra twin bed. In the morning, when she knew the temperature, she could make her decision. And November temperatures in the Adirondack Mountains often fell below freezing.
After brushing her teeth and covering her face with motel lotion, she carried her laptop to bed. Her closest relationships were with her sister and her Mac; lately she had started Googling “average life of Apple laptops.” Imagining life without her electronic connection petrified Phoebe. Thoughts of spending almost two thousand dollars for a replacement provided equal amounts of panic.
Messages from frightening strangers stuffed her Gmail in-box. The distraught and inflamed found her no matter how many times she changed her email provider. Her encrypted email account—Hushmail—the sole communication method she managed to keep private besides her cell phone, contained only one new message, from her sister. Deb wrote daily, always cheerful. Today a long-ago picture of the two of them climbing on iron monkey bars in a Brooklyn playground accompanied her note.
No word from the kids. Occasionally, Kate sent updates about Amelia, Phoebe’s granddaughter. Noah wrote monthly emails filled with agony and anger.
After dashing off a quick note to Deb—“Everything is fine! Weather holding up—more tmw”—she opened Etsy, her online Xanax. Phoebe daydreamed of having an anonymous work life there, building friendships with a community of crafters who appreciated one another only for their dedication to the perfect quilt or ceramic mug. She could sell handmade recipe books devoted to cupcakes. At night, as she struggled toward sleep and fought against memories—and giving in to sleeping pills—she invented pen names: Mimi Appleby. Yoshiko Whisby. Gianna Gardner.
Phoebe tried holding back, but finally, pressing her lips hard together, unable to resist, she opened PrisonMessages.com. Within moments, she found herself captured by Karlgirl’s question: “Would you be angry if your man showed off your sexy pics?”
Phoebe couldn’t conceive of any man wanting photos of her, sexy or otherwise, but still, she slipped into the world and wondered about Jake in that situation.
The man she thought she’d married would have gouged out the eyes of any man trying to see her naked. Today’s Jake would likely sell pictures of her to the highest bidder.
Like a man vowing to stay off porn sites, she slammed her laptop closed.
Ten minutes later, Phoebe reopened it, and then unwrapped a packet of peanut butter crackers as she waited for the machine to come fully alive. She munched as she scrolled through the topics: “Prison Weddings.” “Legal Help.” “Loving a Lifer.” On and on. She never visited “Execution Watch” or “In Memoriam”—the latter full of tributes to those who died in prison—but she lurked in chat rooms, reading, trying to learn something about Jake’s world.
The women she followed were Mrs.25Years, Nick’sOne, and JimmysGirl, all experienced guides to prison protocol. From them, she discovered that underwire bras set off alarms and precipitated a guard’s too-familiar hands feeling you up. Phoebe dreaded seeing someone mention Jake. “Guess who my man saw in the yard!” PrisonMessages.com shackled you to your husband by name and deed.
She clicked “Loving a Lifer,” despite knowing that her love for Jake died more each day. After his confession, Jake had morphed into that awful relative attached to your flesh like a parasite; one you were forced to care for because he lived on your family tree.
She scrolled down the forum, reading titles.
Thread: “What bonds you to your lifer?”
If her daughter could see her, she’d fold her arms and ask, “Exactly, Mom. How can you continue choosing him over us?” Phoebe would again beg Kate to understand why leaving Jake alone, pummeled by a world’s anger, seemed like kicking him as he lay on the ground.
At the time, Phoebe hadn’t thought that she’d chosen Jake or rejected her children, not while the mash of shame, confusion, and loyalty roiled. She hadn’t known how to abandon him. Her son and daughter had their spouses, their children, and each other. Jake could lean only on her. She became his security blanket. He became her prison.
Thread: “I am exhausted.”
Yes. They were all tired, facing their angry men on visiting days. Tired of their men’s locked-up desperation boiled with resentment, these overly sensitive men offended by their need for women living on the outside. They exhausted their women, these men.
Thread: “Need topics for talking with my man on the phone.”
Conversation with Jake required only audible nodding from her.
Thread: “What are the best traits of your lifer?”
Inexhaustible stores of love dust sprinkled the screen. Despite having committed crimes so awful they had received life sentences, these men still inspired their women to enumerate their good qualities. Had they forgiven them their murders, their rapes, their thieving?
Jake swore that no singular moment had marked the beginning of his thievery, but he was lying. Everything began somewhere. He hadn’t slipped into his Byzantine plot. His had been no banana peel of a crime.
And now he talked about the guys. People imagined prisons as all fear and knives, but the truth didn’t unfold so tough. They cooked. They shared books. They were his goddamned buddies.
Phoebe longed for her children. Deep, visceral want threatened to topple her each morning. Antidepressants, antacids, and shame sustained her.
• • •
The cab driver didn’t acknowledge Phoebe, except for nodding when she asked for Ray Brook Federal Correctional. Maybe he was being polite, accustomed to allowing psychic space to sad women visiting locked up men, but more likely, she disgusted him. She recognized the expression: the shock of detection and the scowl.
You.
Her.
The face of Jake’s crime. Wife of the demon. Even if she dyed her hair, wore sunglasses, dressed plainer than an Amish woman, someone shook his or her head as she passed.
The prison loomed. The cab stopped.
Tipping the driver worried her. Too little, and he’d despise her. Too much, and he’d hate her for giving him tainted money.
She paid the thirty-five-dollar fare, adding six dollars. Wind hit as she stepped out and faced the cold colorless brick of Ray Brook. Already she’d curled her hands into fists so tight that they ached.
Her entire marriage had been a battle against being known only as Jake’s wife—now she feared the battle could be over for good.
Phoebe had become two almost-spectral things: a widow to a living man, and a childless mother.
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