Shreve, Anita. The Pilot's Wife
In Anita Shreve's The Pilot's Wife the author follows up The Weight of Water with another suspenseful tale involving relationships and whether or not it is possible to truly know the people in your life. Shreve layers the tension in this book as the reader follows Kathryn Lyon's life just as she finds out that her husband has been killed when his plane blows up over Ireland.
The tangled web of mystery unfolds as the reader discovers with Kathryn that the man she was married to was not the same one who dies in midair leaving her with a teenage daughter and too many questions. Shreve does a masterful job of dropping clues like crumbs to the destination. Everything fits and the evidence that leads Kathryn to the obvious conclusion is well-formulated. The characters are fully fleshed out-especially Kathryn, her angst-riddled teenage daughter, Mattie, and Kathryn's grandmother, Julia. There is a tandem tension going on-as Julia and Kathryn relive the early loss of Kathryn's parents just as Mattie deals with the loss of her father and Kathryn, her husband.
Jack Lyons, the newly deceased, remains a bit of an enigma-but it works here as Kathryn unravels the clues to his exploding plane and struggles to keep his name unsullied even while wondering who this man that she loved really was.
This is a beautifully written book with a plot that compels the reader to avoid all household chores and keep on reading right on until the end. The ending felt a little too neat; however, the reader should admire Kathryn's ability to be the adult when she needs to be and her honest reactions to Robert Hart, the representative from the pilot's union sent to help her through the mire of grief.
Leane M. Ellis, June 19, 1998--Rev.July 5, 2000.
Lucius Beebe Memorial Library - This page last updated 7/5/00 - lme.