The Pilot's Wife : A Novel

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Summary: A touching, realistic novel
Review: It is so rare that an author captures life's little nuances--the way things sound in a certain room, the way a house can smell like "orange pound cake and onions" and still manage to smell GOOD. Anita Shreve captures this realism in the heartbreaking, touching novel, "The Pilot's Wife." The novel follows in the footsteps of nearly every book in Oprah's Book Club. Like the others, it is far from being "light entertainment." Laughs will be few and far between. However, each page seems to turn itself; it's impossible to put this book down. This is certainly a worthwhile read. I commend Ms. Shreve on an achingly beautiful story that manages to be at the same time both a mourning of a tragic loss and a celebration of life.

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Summary: The Fatal Flaw
Review: In a short comment about this book, I mentioned a fatal and sloppy flaw in the story. Since then a few people have sent me e mails to ask what this flaw is. I had decided not to post it here as those who had not yet read the book may be let down, but here goes: Wife #1 in America(the real wife if wou will)discovers the 2nd wife in London. OK. Good so far. BUT toward the very end of the book we hear that Wife #2 stood trial and is in jail. Now during this trial Wife 2 would have been asked what her relationship to the piot was. And she would have replied, rightly, "his wife". And THAT would have got out. There would be NO hiding it after that. Hence Wife #1 could not have kept it a secret from her daughter. Or indeed anyone. It boggles me how the author and editor allowed this to pass by. Sloppy and it cheats the reader terribly. Anita Shreve is a good writer, but how she allowed this to slip past is beyond me. I know my editor would have come down me heavily. Not good enough.

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Summary: BEST READING LEAVING YOU WITH GREAT COMPASSION FOR KATHRYN
Review: OUTSTANDING--ANITA SHREVE I FOUND THIS BOOK WITH SO MUCH COMPASSION AND SUSPENCE AT THE SAME TIME. IT WAS VERY HARD TO PUT DOWN AND FOUND MY SELF THINKING ABOUT THE STORY WHEN I WAS DOING OTHER DAILY ACTIVITES. I FEEL IT IS A BOOK I COULD READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I ALSO FEEL THAT A SEQUEL SHOULD BE IN THE WORKS. WONDERFUL--ANITA SHREVE

Rating:
Summary: Very predictable
Review: As you read along- you could quickly figure out exactly how things were going to unravel. You were also left unsatisifed b/c there was not enough development of the pilot's character to understand him and why he did the things that he did.

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Summary: captivating
Review: Just when you think things could not get any worse for Kathryn, they inevitably do. This book makes you think; how well do you really know the significant that you may be living with?

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Summary: I woke up in the middle of the night just to read it!
Review: It started out bad, I don't like shocking beginnings. Then I got so caught up in it. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I woke up one night at 3am and read until I finished at dawn. A real tear-jerker, page ripper, flat out great book.

Rating:
Summary: I thought the book was mediocre at best.
Review: I thought that the author did not make the characters "REAL" enough.

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Summary: A Quick Read that I enjoyed, but it left me unfulfilled
Review: I have to agree with those who felt that the plot of this novel dissipated during the second half of the book. It was a very entertaining and intriguing story, but all of the build up of the first half seemed too quickly explained during the second half. As I got to know the character of Kathryn, I wondered -- how could anyone have such a vague knowledge of her own husband? In that respect, I found it quite disturbing...in that one never truly knows anyone...not even the ones you love. I enjoyed the book, but it ended too quickly for me.

Rating:
Summary: Good Story that is fatally flawed.
Review: When the movie rights are bought -- and I am sure they will be -- and the script writer sits down to write the screenplay, he or she will come across an error, an oversight, so glaring that s/he will wonder how this was passed over by the author and her publisher. A shocking oversight. I am astonished that none of the reviews mention this sloppy oversight. An oversight that leaves the reader feeling completely cheated. As will filmgoers when this highly commericial book is made into a movie.

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Summary: This book is a total waste of time
Review: I agree wholeheartedly with the reader who described this book as predictable and shallow. It reads like a made-for-TV movie. Its only redeeming quality is it's an easy read, getting us to its uninspiring end that much quicker.