The Widow’s Watcher
by Eliza Maxwell
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (May 29, 2018)
From Eliza Maxwell, the bestselling author of The Unremembered Girl, comes a gripping novel about the mysteries that haunt us and the twists of fate that can unravel them…
Living in the shadow of a decades-old crime that stole his children from him, reclusive Lars Jorgensen is an unlikely savior. But when a stranger walks onto the ice of a frozen Minnesota lake, her intentions are brutally clear, and the old man isn’t about to let her follow through.
Jenna Shaw didn’t ask for Lars’s help, nor does she want it. After he pulls her from the brink, however, Jenna finds her desire to give up challenged by their unlikely friendship. In Jenna, Lars recognizes his last chance for redemption. And in her quest to solve the mysteries of Lars’s past and bring him closure, Jenna may find the way out of her own darkness.
But the truth that waits threatens to shatter it all. When secrets are surrendered and lies are laid bare, Jenna and Lars may find that accepting the past isn’t their greatest challenge. Can they afford the heartbreaking price of forgiveness?
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
“They spend their whole lives walking away from you,” the kindergarten teacher had said on her little girl’s first day. “Your job now is to be there when they look back.”
“When the judge said, ‘For better or worse,’ I agreed quick enough.” Lars pinned her with his piercing gaze. “Nobody tells you how bad the worse can get.”
She marveled at his matter-of-factness. Was it an innate part of him, or was this what years and the grinding sands of loss did to a person? Shaped them into something smooth and hard and polished.
Hope was a frightening thing to rekindle. As impossible to control as a wildfire on a dry plain.
No matter how many years go by, the past never really lets you go.” She ran her hands up and down her arms, as if to ward off a chill. “It’s sewn in, like patches on one of my old granny’s quilts. You can run from it all you like, but it’s part of you. Goes where you go.
What exactly is involved in playing knick-knack, paddy-whack anyway? And why does it need to happen on my knee? The old man sounds kind of sketchy.
My Review:
I’m not exactly sure how to classify the genre of this exceptionally poignant and beautifully written book, it was a Contemporary piece with elements of Suspense, but it wasn’t a Thriller. In addition, I also noted considerable Family Drama, Women’s Fiction issues, mental illness, and an unsolved Mystery that spanned thirty years. With a regal wave of my well-manicured hand, I push all that to the side as I have decided I want new categories of Brilliant, Ingeniously Crafted, and Extraordinarily Well-Written.
Empress DJ
About Eliza Maxwell
Eliza Maxwell is the author of The Unremembered Girl, The Grave Tender, and The Kinfolk. She writes fiction from her home in Texas, which she shares with her ever-patient husband, two impatient kids, a ridiculous English setter, and a bird named Sarah. An artist and writer, a dedicated introvert, and a British cop-drama addict, she enjoys nothing more than sitting on the front porch with a good cup of coffee.
Connect with Eliza
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