Anita Shreve - The Pilot's Wife: A Novel Tag Author of the Weight of Water

Pros: a tight, moving plot lovingly wrapped in soaring prose
Cons: perhaps a tad too predictable. perhaps...

Every last one of us lives with a recurring nightmare. Don't believe me? Consider all the nights that you have shuddered awake in a cold sweat with the sight of a loved one's sudden death burned on your brain; the afterimage of that you fear the most...

Pros: You are drawn in to the story
Cons: The plot wrap-up aggravated me

Have you ever read a book that you just couldn't seem to put down, but then after you finished it didn't know whether it was worth the time you took to read it? You wanted the characters to all redeem themselves in the end, but that didn't happen?...

Pros: Told in a low key manner with dignity
Cons: Implausible plot - unlikeable heros - predictable

The back of this paperback book lists endorsements, i.e.:
“Enthralling” – Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Gripping” – Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Absorbing Inventive” – Houston Chronicle
“Compulsively...

Pros: Prose that reaches out and grabs you
Cons: A story that's standard fluff

I didn’t want to like "The Pilot’s Wife." The plot reads like the synopsis of a Lifetime Original Movie ("On today’s program, a widow struggles with grief and suspicion after her husband dies in a plane accident. Starring [insert has-been...

Pros: Makes you appreciate a well-written book.
Cons: This is not a well-written book.

The Pilot’s Wife written by Anita Shreve fell short in too many aspects for me to give it any credit whatsoever. Either the author put a lot of effort into this book but doesn’t have enough writing talent to pull it off or else she is a talented writer...

Pros: decent writing style
Cons: way too predictable

This story started out very promising. I really liked the descriptions of New England and the coastline, and the home in which they lived. The devastating news that Kathryn Lyons received was vividly and convincingly told with much emotion. Author Anita...

Pros: mystery and plot twists
Cons: boring and unsatisfying

After reading this book, I couldn't understand why Oprah chose it for her book club. I didn't feel like it had anything new to say, but instead was a mundane mystery with some marital angst thrown in. Husband dies, things aren't what they seem; lo and...

Pros: Lets you feel along with the characters
Cons: I was sorry to finish it so quickly

Anita Shreve knows how to wring the most heart-wrenching emotion out of an already emotional event. When Kathryn learns what every pilot's wife dreads, you feel her depths of sorrow along with her. Sorrow, anger, disbelief, guilt, and any other emotion...

Pros: Nice passages, easy read
Cons: Predictable, almost pedestrian

I usually count on Oprah to pick books that are highly emotional, have very strong female characters and numerous high-octane interactions but are still generally easy reads.

On most counts "The Pilot's Wife" qualifies:

*...

Pros: I didn't spend a lot of money on it
Cons: where do I begin?

"Gripping....You don't want to stop turning the pages once Kathryn has opened her door", chirps one critic. "Enthralling..." raves another.

Excuse me, but I'm laughing now.

I tried very hard to like this book, oh-so highly...

Pros: Simple and Easy read
Cons: Shallow, unemotional

I passed over this book quite a few times in the book store and library. I had heard it was depressing with no real message. But then a friend told me that she really enjoy it. We have similar reading styles so...

Okay, first off, she told...

Pros: easy read, fast and intriguing
Cons: unhappy subject material

Anita Shreve has created a scenario that every person fears: learning that the one they love lives a secret life. Kathryn Lyons makes a painful discovery upon the death of her husband.

Before reading the book, I knew the basic premise and...

Pros: Easy to Read
Cons: very predictable of Oprah's Selections

All of Oprah's Selections seem to be stories of hard times and nothing ever turns out right, but the strong characters accept things the way they are. The Pilot's Wife is no exception. It is masterfully written and a real page turner. You will read it...

Pros: Wonderfully cool detached writing
Cons: none

I finished this novel two days ago and it's still with me. Anita Shreve's work is only starting to reach this side of the ocean, either helped by, or in spite of Opray. I nervously paid my £12.20 for it and hoped it wasn't merely a weepie with happy...

Pros: None
Cons: Unbelievable plot, characters, situations

Oprah picked this book?!?? Surprising. I will try not to divulge too many details, but to sum it up...there was nothing believable about this book. OK, it's fiction, but it's not science fiction!

The premise is that this guy (the pilot) is...