Author Anita Shreve has added another winner to her long list of successes. The Pilot’s Wife grabbed me from the first page.
Someone knocking at your door at 3:24 in the morning is never good news. And it is bad news, unthinkable news. High School teacher Kathryn Lyon’s husband, Jack, a trans-Atlantic pilot with a plane load of passengers, crashed off the coast of Ireland. There were no survivors. The bearer of the tragic news is an airline union man, Robert Hart.
Mayhem breaks out. The media storms the house, the phone never stops ringing. Rumors start flying. But are they rumors?
Among Kathryn’s biggest worries is their daughter, Mattie, only fifteen. Jack and Mattie had a special relationship. When he was home, he made every minute with her count.
It’s Robert Hart’s job to stay with the family, help cushion the barrage of questions, answer the phone, monitor the awful, escalating situation.
Struggling through her grief and dealing with the reality of sudden widowhood, Kathryn begins pulling the threads of their life together. But something isn’t right, things don’t add up. A trip to London and eventually Ireland answers some of the questions, but then she’s left trying to deal with the truth.
The Pilot’s Wife, an Oprah’s Book Club winner, is highly suspenseful. The characters are well developed and the subject matter timely. This is a page-turner, a truly enjoyable read.