Review - 'The Wife and the Widow' by Christian White

The Wife and the Widow is told from the perspective of two women: one whose husband disappears and the other whose husband is hiding a guilty secret. Their alternating viewpoints slowly condense into a single narrative as their stories converge and all their secrets are revealed.

I have to say, I was super excited going into this book based on its stellar reviews. I'm always looking for a thriller that can surprise or shock me. And this book has a lot going for it. For one, the premise is intriguing. I enjoy stories following seemingly separate people whose connections are then slowly revealed and explained. And I relished the setting, in a summer town during off-peak season, where it's desolate and gloomy.

But this may have been a case where my expectations were set too high. When I think of a thriller, I always want twists and turns, jaw-dropping secrets, and eureka moments that pull everything together with satisfaction and awe. And I just didn't get that here. The story felt very straightforward and simple. It proceeded systematically in the only way it could, and every step along the way, I'm nodding to myself like, "Yep, that's the way it is." Which isn't how I want my thrillers to be.

Another issue for me is how late in the book I hit that point of feeling compelled to continue reading. When I think of the experience of reading a book, it always starts out as going uphill, where you have to put a lot of effort into paying attention and staying focused because everything is new and unfamiliar... until you reach that magical point where you've become immersed into the plot and you wholehearted buy into the narrative that is playing out. From then on, you're zooming downhill, fast and easy, all the way to the finish. This key turning point is crucial, but I didn't reach it until more than halfway through. The lead-up to that point was mostly pedestrian, with little happening and most of it being domestic drama.

Still, I found the ending to be satisfactory in that it pulled everything together and explained it all without being over the top. But while I liked enough of this story to be glad I picked it up, it didn't wow me. I prefer my thrillers to be a little more exciting and gripping, and this just fell short of that.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars