Publishers Weekly
★ 11/11/2019
A tragedy and longtime secrets bring together two women from different backgrounds in this stellar family drama from Australian author White (The Nowhere Child). Wealthy stay-at-home mom Kate Keddie is the widow of the title, a designation she receives shortly after waiting in vain at the airport with her 10-year-old daughter for her husband, John, to return to Melbourne following a business trip to London. Kate soon learns that John never made the trip, and that he quit his health-care job three months earlier without telling anyone; then his body washes up on Belport Island, where the Keddies have a vacation home. Supermarket clerk and amateur taxidermist Abby Gilpin is the wife of the title, who lives with her two sulky teenagers and her husband, Ray, a caretaker for the unoccupied holiday houses on Belport Island. Superior plotting buoyed by strong characters fuel the women’s separate investigations as Kate looks into John’s activities and Abby wonders why Ray is distant and sad. A clever twist near the end upends the plot’s trajectory. Readers will eagerly await White’s next. Agents: Jennifer Naughton and Candace Thorn, RGM (Australia). (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"The author does a vivid job of creating real characters and captures the alternately calm and claustrophobic feeling of island life. Some readers will find the twists fair and others, infuriating, but no doubt all will hang on to discover the ending."—Kirkus Reviews
"White delivers a shocking, excellently executed twist that will have readers reexamining their assumptions; this and the sordid details of decades-old misery and fierce parental love make The Wife and the Widow a story to remember. Fans of White’s debut will be pleased with this follow-up."—Booklist
"White’s sophomore outing succeeds as both a clever literary puzzle and an insistent page-turner."—The Seattle Review of Books
"White destroys any thoughts of a sophomore slump with an entrancing standalone mystery. White draws readers in quickly and adroitly with this compulsive tale, which is a stay-up-all-night kind of book full of masterful plotting and strong characters. The claggy setting is fittingly oppressive and everything builds to a culmination that is breathtaking."—Mystery Scene
Library Journal
★ 01/01/2020
White's sophomore novel (after The Nowhere Child) is told in alternating chapters by Abby (the wife) and Kate (the widow), who both look inward to decide how far they will go to protect their families. When her husband, John, fails to return from an overseas business trip, Kate starts to dig into his past, and realizes that he was tormented by a terrible secret. He wasn't in London but at his childhood summer cottage on a remote island, dredging up the past. When Kate learns that John has been murdered, she travels to the island for answers. Meanwhile, island resident Abby, a true crime aficionado and novice taxidermist, must face the shocking possibility that her husband Ray may be capable of murder. VERDICT White exceeds readers' expectations after his supersuccessful debut, with strong, complex protagonists in Abby and Kate and notable secondary characters who are well developed. The plot never stops and the clever twist is thrilling. [See Prepub Alert, 7/8/19.]—Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD
Kirkus Reviews
2019-10-28
When Melbourne resident Kate Keddie learns her missing husband has been lying to her about having gone to London for work, she looks for answers on a small Australian island, where local woman Abby Gilpin is also dealing with consequences from her husband's secrets.
The two women are strangers, but they won't be for long. Kate, a passive, go-along sort of spouse, is stunned to find that her husband, John, has been lying to her about work; he hasn't been there for three months. She and her gruff father-in-law leave Melbourne for Belport Island, where Kate and John have a summer home, in search of answers. Meanwhile, Abby, a crude but tough mother, is trying to work extra shifts at the grocery store to help with finances. Her husband Ray's job as a caretaker for unoccupied vacation houses is seasonal and uncertain, and he's been moodier than usual. The novel is told in alternating chapters from each woman's point of view. There are so many twists and turns that to reveal more of the plot would be unfair; suffice it to say that the story doesn't go where most readers will expect it to. The author does a vivid job of creating real characters and captures the alternately calm and claustrophobic feeling of island life.
Some readers will find the twists fair and others, infuriating, but no doubt all will hang on to discover the ending.
