The Pilot's Wife : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: give this book a chance-not because Oprah recommended it!
Review: I was disturbed that some people are not going to read this book because Oprah recommended it. Isn't that... I don't know-narrow minded? And I don't think it's fair to air your disgust about Oprah on a Amazon book review. Anita Shreve is a great writer. I liked this book a lot and I read it before Oprah chose it. Oprah gets credit because people are reading books-and that's something in my book! And to those who won't read this book or Where the Heart Is, Jewel, or Ellen Foster-you are missing out on great books. Your snobbery is getting in your way in good reading.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but there are better books.
Review: It is an 'okay' book, but there are so many true accounts of brave and wonderful women who flew dangerous and unproven aircraft during WWII and after, that I don't see why this novel about a pilot's wife should garner such attention. My advice is to skip it, and pick up a non-fiction account of actual women pilots. I'd especially recommend Haynsworth's "Amelia Earhart's Daughters" or Van Keil's "Those Wonderful Women and Their Flying Machines."

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable and touching
Review: Once I started The Pilot's Wife I could not put it down. Anita Shreve is an amazing author and her characters and prose are wonderfully constructed. I especially enjoyed Mattie, Kathryn's daughter. This book is a captivating look at what happens to a family when disaster strikes. I have read all of Ms. Shreve's other books and am looking forward to her next one.

Rating:
Summary: Set aside a long, cozy evening for this great book!
Review: Even a person in the most trusting of relationships sometimes wonders what their significant other "might" be up to. Fortunately for most of us, the clandestine activity is usually something harmless, like an expensive pair of new shoes bought on the sly or a night out with the boys that goes on just a bit too long. But what about the times when the secret isn't so innocuous? Writer Anita Shreve takes that premise and tells a gripping, heart-rending tale of a wife who finds out just what her beloved husband was up to. Don't be scared away if you think this is a sad book, it is, but the ending is terrific and uplifting! Shreve is a super writer and I've also read THE WEIGHT OF WATER by her (that is from the same publisher, Back Bay Books in case you are wondering) and I loved that too. Get to know this great writer!

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT READ!
Review: There are few and far-between great spinners of a tale as Anita Shreve. I have read ALL her books and find each one a page-turner. My favorite is Weight of Water and I must say, if use Oprah as a guideline for books, at times you should reach further than her one "suggestion" with an author. Anita Shreve is great! The Pilot's Wife was a wonderful novel and everyone should read all of Shreve's works.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read!
Review: Shreve walks us through Kathyrn's grief and search for answers with remarkable insight. The clarity with which she writes is engrossing. The only unfortunate result is that you have read the last page before you're ready to put it down! By far the most enjoyable of Oprah's "picks" to date.

Rating:
Summary: THE PILOT'S WIFE IS A GOOD READ
Review: To take my mind off my fear of flying on a flight from Denver to Atlanta I focused all my attention on this latest Oprah pick, and it provided an engrossing read that left me quite satisfied that I'd read a well written story. (I was also gratefully distracted from a rather turbulent flight--I thank the author for this!) It wasn't the greatest book I had ever read, and it read like a well written report... rather like the kind you'd see portrayed in a hour long special report on TV. The character development was tight and the ending satisfying. Again, not the best Oprah pick, but a good book is a good book. I also recommend Joseph Green's "Pseudo Cool" for those wanting for a fast and interesting read that projects a powerful story. Looking forward to Oprah's next pick!

Rating:
Summary: Another Yawner from Oprah
Review: I read this book some time ago upon the recommendation of a friend...they were favorably entertained by it...I was not. I found myself pushing onward through the pages waiting for a fire to ignite the plot - I pushed to the end and never really even found a spark. I was fairly bored by the plot from the beginning and the characters failed to be engaging...although the meeting and relationship between the widow and the mistress had the potential for some real drama. So...again I find myself uninspired by Oprah's latest "pick". Is it just me or is anyone else finding her book choices to be less than exciting and worthy of lunch and water-cooler chats?? I surely think this one is the least desirable read of all.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling, moving exploration of pain and loss
Review: The Pilot's Wife captured my interest from the first sentence, when a knock at the door brings the devastating news of which any pilot's wife lives in dread, and it didn't waver until the final page of this wonderful book. The unfolding of the relationship between Jack and Kathryn, is set against -- and alternated with -- Kathryn's gradual recognition of the kind of husband she had married. The counterpoint of contruction and destruction creates an emotional tension that builds to a dramatic crescendo in Kathryn's trip to England and her poignant, painful discovery there. A great read and a deeply moving story.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliantly written, gripping story with enormous insight
Review: As a longtime fan of Anita Shreve, I grabbed his book the minute it showed up in bookstores. I was not disappointed. Shreve has written a beautifully modulated novel about marriage, about how one can never really know another person, all in the context of a plane crash and its political and emotional aftermath.I find it a stunning work and give it the highest possible recommendation.