my book review

Its 3:45 in the morning. Knock. Knock. Knock. Kathryn Lyons wakes out of her deep slumber confused and unaware of her surroundings. She remembers that her husband, jack, should be returning from his flight but not this early. She staggers down the stairs in her pajamas and opens her front door. A towering figure stands in her doorway. This isn’t her husband. “Mrs. Lyons?”, and then she knows.

Her feet give out on her and she falls to the ground.

This event happens in the first pages of “The Pilot’s Wife” by Anita Shreve, where Kathryn is told the news of her husband’s plane crashing off the coast of Ireland. The author goes on to illustrate the pain and grief Kathryn and her daughter Maddie endure from losing such a vital person in their lives. They are also accompanied by the union rep, Robert Hart, who helps keep the hungry press away from the grieving family and who updates them on all the rumors and information about the crash.

As the story unfolds we follow Kathryn through her grieving process and watch her strength grow as she tries to hold what’s left of her family together. It seems like the typical sad story with the typical grieving family until Kathryn begins to uncover things she never knew about her husband. We watch as she starts questioning her entire marriage and wondering if she really knew the man that she has loved for over 16 years.

The author does a great job of pulling all the pieces of the story together and depicting Kathryn’s growing doubt about her husband and their marriage. She does this by flashing back and forth from present to past and showing contrast between how Kathryn thought her husband was and the stranger she is finding him to be.

I would recommend this book but with some caution. It is not a happy romance or love story, it is sad and only becomes more depressing. It is a very captivating book and you will not want to put it down. I will not give away the ending but the author throws twists that you wouldn’t expect.

I really enjoyed reading “The Pilot’s Wife” and I found that during SSR it really held my attention despite all the side conversations and snickering that we had in class. I find that as the year went on I was able to block out all the background commotion more and more. I became a more effective reader due to SSR and I think that it was very beneficial.