I was really anxious to read this because it was on Oprah’s book club list, however I’m left disappointed in the book. Where was the suspense? The drama? It left a lot on the table for me. It was boring to me.

I blindly picked this book up from my little free library down the road, not realizing that the setting of New England would be incredibly nostalgic for me and the story so suspenseful. It wasn’t suspenseful because of the mystery or thrill, but for the slow and steady unraveling of a life and the acknowledgment of betrayals. It evoked very strong emotions in me as I felt the weight of Kathryn’s grief and confusion in the midst of mystery and death. While I see and can agree with a few of the points made by those who rated the book lower stars, this book made me FEEL. An excellent start to my 2025.

This is my third Anita Shreve book and I am not sure if I am going to read any more of them. For the most part I enjoy her writing and her stories, but the endings are sometimes unbearable. Anyway, this book was another Oprah book. It was pretty short and I got through it very quickly. Plot summary: The wife of a pilot learns that her husband's plane has gone down and that he is dead. While dealing with all the initial shock as well as dealing with the grief of their 15 year old daughter, she learns that the media and the investigators are saying that it was suicide. In an effort to prove to everyone that Jack would never commit suicide as well as murder all those passengers, she learns that her husband had many secrets from her and is not the man she thought he was for all those years together.

This book made me feel sad. Is it so easy for people to live double lives? Wouldn't there be signs? Doubts? It definitely reinforced my beliefs that no matter how well you think you know someone or how long you are with them, you never know what they are thinking. You never know what someone is truly capable of. This book didn't do much to reinforce any sort of faith in humanity.

Also, the book was too short. The plot developments were not fully developed and there are a lot of unanswered questions. Things happened too easily without enough conflict. I wanted more and was denied. The other Shreve books I read were more satisfying.

Heartbreaking, beautiful, spellbinding. In this classic Anita Shreve story the wife of a pilot killed in a plane explosion gradually learns things she hadn't know before about her husband.

A Mysterious Betrayal

This is my first exposure to Anita Shreve, and I have to admit that she's a skilled writer who's drawn, in this book, some excellent details on the mother-daughter relationship. The teenaged daughter, Matti, is convincingly drawn as is the protagonist's with her own grandmother, although her own dead mother, less so. The relationship with the missing husband, the pilot, Jack, is appropriate although I was perplexed by the absence of other peers in the story? For someone who worked as a high school teacher in the community, her apparent isolation appeared false. At times, I was perplexed by her language. It's beautifully compelling but somehow the information's absent. I was struggling for details of time and place, even season initially.

Which brings me to the plot, which is its major downfall. The scenario is superb, it's an interesting story. A plane's gone down, her husband's the pilot, and ultimately potentially responsible, if machinery failure is excluded. The stakes are high and the first part of the book is high on suspense. Sadly, it doesn't maintain the suspense in a meaningful fashion, the denouement feels trite and inappropriate as though the writer lost her way and, ultimately, this reader felt a sense of betrayal!

I realise that my perspective may be coloured by my enthusiasm for spy stories and thrillers but I suppose my knowledge of recent Irish history makes me seriously doubt the confession in a very public place!

Still, overall, a good read. I'll read another one of her stories some other time.

3.75 twinkling ⭐

Not great, not terrible. It was an easy read to pick up and put down. I think Anita Shreve does a great job of unraveling tragedies in a mostly believable way, this book was no exception.
On top of the tragedy of losing her husband, Jack, Kathryn discovers multiple betrayals which took place during their 15-year marriage. I felt like the betrayals were believable, the only part that seemed cheesy and overdone to me was the romantic twist that was woven in.
Overall, I’d say it’s a nice, light read but probably won’t top your all time favorites list.

Audiobook

I wish Melanie Griffith would have narrated other books because she does a fantastic job. Her voice is a little gritty and is just wonderful to listen to.

The story itself I really enjoyed but mentions of the IRA - Irish Republican Army really date it. I was thinking, oh yeah, I remember there were problems with them in the 1990s. I just enjoyed the whole book front to back. 5 stars.

First time reading this author. I liked her style very much. Finished this book just as the news broke about the New York Govenor and his shameful, shameful involvement in a $$$ call girl ring. Just goes to show ya.....you never know!!!! I'm moving on to another book by her called "The weight of Water"

I have recently seen the movie version, and I always like to read the book if I can for "comparison"
The movie won.
The book dragged and lacked the "meat" needed.
The movie was way better...at least for me, as I'm not really a big fan of this Authors books.
I've read others by her and I always feel something is missing, and I loose interest.
So...I will watch the movie based on her books instead I think.

I don't understand what all the hype was about with this book. I think Shreve's writing is pretty good - no complaints there - but the pace of this book is all over the place. It's very slow to start, to the point where I wanted to just give up on it, and then the last 2-3 chapters rush to wrap eeverything up into a neat package. The plot was pretty good, a bit "Lifetime movie" for my tastes, but decent enough. If the pace had been a bit more consistent, I probably would have given this 3 stars. I wouldn't read it again, but I know a lot of people really loved this one, so maybe I just didn't 'get it'.

Despite all the grief, this is a quick read.

Shreve paints clear word-portraits, but the subject is ho-hum and the composition isn't selective enough about what it reveals and hides. That makes what's coming obvious. It filters out the fun of sharing a deep perception, because she's just told you all about it. But mostly it means that the subplots vie for attention with the main theme and keep the story from achieving unity: Shreve didn't want to tell a story about the conflict in Ireland (I don't think), or about "the other woman" (I don't think), or attractive grief counselors from the union (I'm certain), and I honestly can't tell if the story was supposed to be about grief or about the impossibility of knowing other people. The grief was overpowered by the other elements, and the theme of the impossibility of knowing other people was negated by the (trite) relationship that sprung up between Kathryn (the pilot's main wife) and Robert (the grief counselor).

A rhetorical cry: Why, oh why, oh why can't people believe that professional training and roles really do dominate interactions, to the exclusion of other kinds of relationships? While the taboo involved is dramatic, the actual tension that occurs in these relationships is equally dramatic - and more instructive and human.

The Good: Anita Shreve writes well and he books never fail to suck you in, even if you aren't loving where the story is going.

The Bad: This was a depressing book with a unrealistic ending. To throw some romance in at the end, as if Kathryn would been remotely stable enough at that point in her life for anything to work out, is ludicrous. She's obviously obsessive about the husband, not able to let go of this "secret" even though he's dead and she should just mourn and move on.