Rating: 
Summary: Highly Improbable, Highly Annoying
Review: It's a good thing I have read so many other Anita Shreve novels, because if this had been my first, popular TV book club selection or not, I would never have read another.It's the old complacent-wife-doesn't-really-know-her-husband tired old plot, this time dressed up in a fancy plot. Kathryn's competent and serious airliner pilot husband Jack is the pilot of a plane that mysteriously explodes just off the Irish coast. There are no survivors. As shell-shocked Kathryn struggles to come to terms with this horrendous and horrible news, and to shelter her teenaged daughter Maddy from the press and the whispers, rumors of pilot suicide almost break her. She knows that Jack would never commit suicide and kill 150 people along with himself--but what she doesn't know, and is soon to find out, is that Jack was not all that he seemed. Yada yada yada. I was not impressed, I found no deep and life-altering meanings. Instead, I felt maniuplated by a progressively more silly plot line that left me, in the end, feeling that I had completey wasted my time. My advice: If you have any respect for Shreve as an author, as I do, forget she ever wrote this one. Her reputation remains intact without it.
Rating: 
Summary: Provocative novel
Review: I could not put this book down! It is a thoughtful and provocative novel about a woman who has no reason to suspect her life with her husband is anything beyond what it seems, until his death. This book is a real page-turner, as the protagonist deals with the overwhelming grief/emotional loss of her spouse, and at the same time has to face the reality of her familial life.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: although a bit predictable. Still, I was pulled into the story right away and couldn't put it down - I had to see how it ended. An enjoyable way to spend an evening!
Rating:
Summary: Grippiing Story
Review: Any woman (especially married women) will appreciate this story. I couldn't put this book down, expecially after I got half way into it. This poor woman in the story went through so much, and Anita Shreve just sucks all your emotions into the story. A must read
Rating: 
Summary: So, So
Review: This book is better than The Wieght of Water but not as good as The Resistance. The movie The Wieght of Water though is better than the Pilot's wife movie - didn't like the way they changed it. Typical Shreve though - really good, easy to read, entertaining fictional novel. If you need a book for a vacation trip to read on a beach or something then I suggest a Shreve novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A Real Chick Book
Review: A commercial airliner mysteriously blows up off the coast of Ireland. The doomed pilot's wife, Kathryn, discovers that Jack has a 'wife'(Muire) in Britain and has fathered two young children through their union. Although Jack never goes to church with Kathryn, with Muire he's a dedicated, church-going Roman Catholic. So far, so good. What I cannot accept and find absolutely preposterous is that a commercial pilot would merely pick up a bag to take on his aircraft without first inspecting the contents. That Kathryn's new love interest, Robert, is part of the investigation is also a stretch. But, this is a chick book and doesn't require any deep thinking.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down...
Review: From the first page, I knew I would read this book in a couple days, the most! And I did! And I liked it to the very end, especially how easily it grabbed my attention and pulled me into the emotions the heroin was going through. Very good writing.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Heart Clenching
Review: A truly amazing story! Being a new reader to Anita's collection I found this book was absolutely breath taking. The way she plays out each character places you in the exact situation and feelings of those in this book. She really knows how to let the audience see the big picture. I literally could NOT put this novel down. It definitely keeps you reading word after word, page after page. The detail and descriptive words were absolutely fascinating. The emotions in this novel were overwhelming; I didn't want it to end! Anita is a wonderful author, the way she lets the reader experience the love, the aftermath of a death and the utter betrayal will consume you. When you lose someone, eventually you come to terms with it, in your own time. In Kathryn's situation, being the pilots wife, the media steps in and makes it that much harder. They seem to take one person's tragedy and make the whole world experience it. You feel every word as though the pain is your own. Jack, being the pilot, had a relationship with Kathryn based merely on a day by day basis it seemed. Since he was always gone, the adjustment was based around his trips, making time for each other whenever possible. But the night Kathryn heard the knock on the door, little did she know her life would be altered forever, and jack would never come home. Kathryn a brave and courageous young women trying to find justice for her husbands death, soon finds clues that perhaps he had been living a double life, a life she was not a part of. Just when Kathryn believes her world could not crash down any harder, It does. She soon finds out the mystery of Jacks "secret life" even though it's so hard to believe. With bravery and strength, she finds comfort in her daughter Mattie to overcome this trauma. It makes you realize no matter how well you think you know someone, even your husband of 15 years, how well can you really know that person? Although I did feel a little cheated at the end of the book I definitely give it two thumbs up. Anita did a spectacular job on this novel. I know I'm hooked!
Rating:
Summary: NOT what it was marketed, but good for other reasons
Review: This was touted as such a SHOCKER. Umm.. o.k. I saw the "twist" coming a MILE away. I think the book was marketed completely wrong. It's a meaningful discussion on grief and the idea that--do we EVER really know anyone? She deftly explored the notion that if you discover something about a person now dead, something completely out of line with what you know to be true about them... how do you handle that knowledge? While finding out what this character did would be unusual, there are similar experiences for other people. For example, have you ever found out something unseemly about your now dead grandparent, for example? Then, you are where this character is... Do you accept it? Do you pretend it isn't there? How do you carry on now??? A good book. But not the thriller, or surprise plot twist people described it as.
Rating:
Summary: A captivating book from beginning to end
Review: Losing a loved one is hard for anyone in life. When someone dies, usually a person can grieve on their own and recover. However when the media interferes, it becomes much harder for someone to function let alone, heal from a death in the family. This is the situation Kathryn Lyons is put in. She is the first and main character introduced in the book. Kathryn is the wife of a pilot named Jack and mother of their daughter Mattie. The story opens with Kathryn learning of a plane crash in Ireland that killed her husband. Obviously she is very devastated and crestfallen. 'She tried to understand that Jack no longer existed.' (p.9) Kathryn, like many others, finds it very difficult to cope with the loss of a spouse. Since he was a pilot, she does not see him a lot and his death is something she must adjust to. It was hard for Kathryn and her daughter to come to the realization that Jack was never coming home. After the plan crashed and the story was supposed to begin to 'blow over', stories begin to surface about the cause of the crash and why and how it happened. The media begins pointing fingers and Kathryn feels she must give Jack justice. In the process, she also learns that her husband could have possibly been living a double life. With so many questions, Kathryn begins searching for answers. Her investigation leads her somewhere and what she discovers there leaves her in shock. It is there, where Kathryn learns information about her husband she never new. The book weaves past and present stories that Kathryn remembers. The past is how Kathryn remembers her husband. 'And then we just loved each other'. (p.147) She remembers all the good times spent with the man she knew and loved. The present deals with the new information she discovers about Jack. Kathryn learns that no matter how well you think you know a person, you really do not. This is a good book for anyone who is looking for an interesting plot. The book starts interesting, continues with a developing story line and ends with a lesson everyone can learn from. It did not take long for me to become engrossed in the book. Since the book was never dull, I was able to finish it in one day. The book is full of events and never gets boring. This book is definitely for someone who enjoys personal stories about uncovering the truth.
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