TSS - Review - The Widow's Season by Laura Brodie

The Widow's Season by Laura Brodie
published 6/09
308 pages



Synopsis from publisher:

Sarah McConnell’s husband had been dead for three months when she saw him in the grocery store.

What does a woman do when she’s thirty-nine, childless, and completely alone for the first time in her life? Does it mean she’s crazy to think she sees her late husband beside a display of pumpkins? Or is it just what people do, a natural response to grief that will fade in time? That’s what Sarah McConnell’s friends told her, that it was natural, would last a season, and then fade away.

But what if there was another answer? What if he was really there? They never found the body, after all. What if he is still here somehow, and about to walk back into her life?

My thoughts:

I've been watching jealously all the posts for the RIP Challenge - it sounds like so much fun, and it has such a pretty banner. Why haven't I joined yet? Oh, that's right - I don't do scary. Scary gives me bad dreams for weeks. (Honestly, I don't know how I manage to get through each week of Supernatural.)


So what exactly was I thinking reading a book about a woman being haunted by her dead husband?

Well, here's why this particular ghost story worked for me - it was gentle. This wasn't an edge-of-my-seat, jump at any little noise type read. It was more moody and atmospheric, with a rather benevolent ghost. The author does a skillful job of creating tension without necessarily using fear - Sarah seems almost to welcome her ghostly visitor, and that makes the relationship between the two unique and interesting.

Once again, I enjoyed the depiction of the marriage in this novel. It wasn't a perfect relationship, but neither husband or wife was portrayed as the "bad guy" - rather, each was shown to have contributed little things that led to the distance between the couple.

"Love was complicated, that was all. Or was love simple, and marriage was complicated? In seventeen years of marriage David had often left her feeling frustrated, and furious, and disgusted, yes - but he had also made her feel beautiful, and protected, and loved. And oh, what she would give to feel loved right now."

I think this is a great novel. It had just the right mood, for me, for this time of year - I found the writing to be haunting and beautiful, and it was the perfect season for me to dive in. I would definitely recommend it!


Finished: 10/14/09
Source: the author - thank you!
Rating: 8/10