Rating: 
Summary: I read it in one sitting
Review: The Pilot's Wife is an insightful tale of loss and betrayal. As the story opens, Kathryn, a pilot's wife, has been told that her husband's plane has crashed and there are no survivors. We follow Kathryn into the numbing, silent, surreal world known to those who suffer loss. Memories of her happy marriage engulf her and paralyze her, but she begins to cope with the help of a kind man from the pilot's union. In the second half of the book, Kathryn pieces together clues left by her husband that lead to shocking revelations about him, and eventually, the healing process begins.The first half of the book was an accurate picture of one in the grieving process; unfortunately, it was too long and became somewhat tedious. The second half, however, was very exciting, and I could hardly turn the pages fast enough to see what would happen next. The climax is quite satisfying and made me glad I stuck with it and finished the book. The Pilot's Wife would make an excellent movie, with lots of romance, tragedy and intrigue. If you like stories that are full of surprises, you'll enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Are wives really that dumb and blind?
Review: This would have been a better book if the protagonist (the pilot's wife) wasn't so unbelievably stupid. She and her husband essentially lead separate lives, for years. This is because of his job as a pilot (supposedly). She just goes with the flow and never stops to think if things should really be THAT separate. So....She is easily deceived on a consistent basis, and for a long period of time...yet was totally surprised when the truth was revealed after her husband dies. Real, average women aren't that stupid.
Rating: 
Summary: An insipid story
Review: While reading Shreve's work, I felt as if I was watching a bad made-for-TV-movie. The plot is quite trite and the prose a bore. It is a quick read, though, for anyone who has bought this book, it should be regarded as a sunk cost and quickly cast aside.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story!
Review: "Pilot's wife" - by Anita Shreve; is a great story about a woman who's husband dies (read the publisher's review for outline of story) and finding out that she didn't even know him at all. Absolutely Fantastic, compelling, frustrating, and suspenseful all at once. It compares to other great reads: "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden, "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel" by Rebecca Wells; "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb, "When It Rains" by Marjorie Spoto, "Drowning Ruth" by Christina Schwarz and "The Davinci Code" by Dan Brown. A Must Read.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: This Shreve book was easy to read and very enjoyable. Not unlike her other books, Shreve addresses some very difficult topics in this book, such as trust, infidelity, and a child who has experimented with their sexuality.
Kathryn, the heroine of the story, is catapulted into despair when she finds that her beloved pilot husband, Jack, has been killed in a plane crash. Comforted by Robert, a man from the union, who knows more than he initially reveals. Jack's death brings to light some disturbing possibilities which Kathryn must explore, and then come to grips with.
The story is wonderfully gripping. I really enjoyed this Shreve title, but like some of her others, wasn't thrilled with the ending, which was odd and I felt left unanswered questions.
Definitely worth reading though.
Rating:
Summary: Not a total waste of time, but nearly so
Review: I think what brought me down about this book is the excessive detail about everything. It was not enough to describe another person, the author had to detail the drape of the clothes, the press of the fabric, etc., etc. to the point of boredom. And there was what could be described as product placements, as it was just not cleanser under the counter, but the specific brand, as well as the specific brand of shoes at one point. And this was not just an isolated instance, but was more pervasive.
On the positive side, the unraveling of the mystery about her husband pilot unfolded well, but then quickly got wrapped up that was out of the flow of the rest of the book. I had a nagging suspicion about the Robert character, and that unfolded suddenly also at the end of the book. Some of the details the author used to try and deepen the character were not plausible, and that distracted me from the points in the book. The writing style seemed to be inconsistent. Pages with with very short sentences and then pages of more complex sentence structure. The book is all right, but not worth reading it over more enjoyable or better written books.
Rating: 
Summary: It should be called - A Pilot's Bore!!!
Review: The characters were not well developed! The store was very slow moving, and yes, the ending was VERY predictable. It was well written though, despite the negatives. I am glad I paid next to nothing for the book, because I would be mad, if I paid full price. It is worth a penny, just for entertainment sake!
Rating:
Summary: Well written, but predictable and a tad bit boring
Review: Kathryn Lyons is about to receive the worst news of her life...and it isn't that her husband of 16 years, Jack, was just killed when the commercial airliner he was flying crashed. No, that's just the tip of the iceberg for Kathryn.
An airline investigator, Robert Hart, has come to Mrs. Lyons' house to give her and her daughter (Mattie) the bad news. But he's also there for another reason: to find out how much Kathryn REALLY knew about her husband. Come to find out, she didn't know him well at all.
Jack had been leading a double life, assuming matrimonial duties on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and Kathryn is about to come face to face with her polygamist rival in England. And she soon makes a flurry of other discoveries about her husband that turns her world upside down (was he responsible for the plane crashing?)
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What makes a book interesting is twofold: #1: you have to write with conviction, knowledge and gripping prose. And the author, Anita Shreve, does this. She's well-groomed in the art of storytelling and that is what kept me reading. #2: the story must be compelling and original. And this is where Mrs. Shreve has fallen short. The `secrets' that get revealed about Jack's life are telegraphed too much to the reader. I knew what was coming long before the author showed me. And there really wasn't anything compelling about the story itself (spouse loses husband, grieves, tries to sort out life, makes shocking discoveries about her former mate, finds new love, comes to emotional terms with her life, moves on). Pretty standard fare, I'd say.
I'd never read an "Oprah's Book Club Selection" before (March 1999), and I'd have to say that I was pretty disappointed in this choice. Let's hope some of the others are more readable.
Rating:
Summary: The Pilot's Wife
Review: I just finished reading this book this morning. After reading 'The Last Time They Met', I decided to read another Shreve piece. It was a little disappointing, although I could not put it down because I wanted to get throught to the end to see exactly what Jack had been up to all that time. Makes people in relationships question how well they really know their partners. The ending was very predictable. I kept flipping back through the pages and re-reading some of the earlier chapters because I thought I had missed something. Read it if you have the time, but don't go out of your way!
Rating:
Summary: Why do I care?
Review: I started to read this book awhile ago, but couldn't get through it. So, I picked it up again when I needed something to read while I wait. Some of the descriptions were long and tedious. I thought the author was too caught up in the language and didn't put enough energy into keeping the story going.
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