The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I find that books that are part of Oprah's Book Club are often really good reads, and I have to admit that it was Oprah's recommendation that made me read this book, and I wasn't disappointed.

This book follows Kathryn, the wife of a busy pilot. She has an ordinary family life; a good job as a teacher, a teenage daughter Mattie who causes her all the difficulties you can expect from a teenage daughter, and then a husband whom she loves but has been growing slowly more distant from. Then, her and her daughter's lives are turned upside down when Kathryn receives a knock at her door stating her husband has been killed in a plane accident. The story first focuses on how Kathryn and Mattie deal with their grief following this loss and the media frenzy that surrounds it. There's then a change; Kathryn finds herself needing to know all the details associated with the plane accident. She begins to winder about some things that don't seem quite right in her husband's property, and eventually she finds herself following the trail of his deceptions across the world to England.

I think the biggest point of this book is - how can you ever know that you really know someone? How well do we really know the people you love? How do you really know that you trust someone? People believe they know the people they love, they trust that person, that's part of the love. And I suppose it's something that everyone asks themselves when they discover that those that they love to have been deceiving them. Deception and trust are big themes in this book in that sense.

I enjoyed the book a lot. It was quick, it wasn't challenging, and it was intriguing. At worst it was a little predictable, and I do think that the grief that Kathryn and Mattie display aren't very true to true human nature, even taking into account how different everyone would react to such news. This is particularly true for Kathryn's reaction, I think. I still recommend that you have a read of this book, definitely worth while!

Star Rating

6 / 8

Really enjoyable and well written. I would recommend it.

Originally posted 1 December 2009 Page Turners