The Widow's House

By: Carol Goodman

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Edgar Award Winner, Mary Higgins Clark, 2018

This chilling novel from the best-selling, award-winning author of The Lake of Dead Languages blends the Gothic allure of Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca and the crazed undertones of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper with the twisty, contemporary edge of A. S .A. Harrison's The Silent Wife - a harrowing tale of psychological suspense set in New York's Hudson Valley.

When Jess and Clare Martin move from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to their former college town in the Hudson River valley, they are hoping for rejuvenation - of their marriage, their savings, and Jess' writing career.

They take a caretaker's job at Riven House, a crumbling estate and the home of their old college writing professor. While Clare once had dreams of being a writer, those plans fell by the wayside when Jess made a big, splashy literary debut in their 20s. It's been years now since his first novel. The advance has long been spent. Clare's hope is that the pastoral beauty and nostalgia of the Hudson Valley will offer some inspiration.

But their new life isn't all quaint town libraries and fragrant apple orchards. There is a haunting pall that hangs over Riven House like a funeral veil. Something is just not right. Soon Clare begins to hear babies crying at night and seeing strange figures in fog at the edge of their property. Diving into the history of the area, she realizes that Riven House has a dark and anguished past. And whatever this thing is - this menacing force that destroys the inhabitants of the estate - it seems to be after Clare next.

©2017 Carol Goodman (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Complex Story, Worth a Listen!

This is one of those books where you really to pay attention. I admit, it was a bit of a slow start but stick with it. It does get better! It’s like unrolling a ball of yarn, slow at first and you need to work out some of the knots and then it picks up speed and starts really going quickly. A complex story indeed. Every piece needs to be heard in order to fully understand what’s going on between the characters.
The narrator was good but I think she would be more ideal in a “non-thriller” genre. She has feeling to her voice and supplies voices for the other characters well. However, she tends to say some of her sentences in the same manner, using the same inflection. Asking, “Can I have a glass of lemonade?” Needs to be said differently than, “Wow! Did you see that?!” But this is just my opinion. I think her talents could be better utilized in a different genre because she’s not annoying or anything, I enjoyed her voice, I just think she would be better suited to a romance or something.

too descriptive.

I love having a scene clearly painted in my mind by the author so I can picture what is going on, however when that description becomes so long and drawn out that I lose track of what's even happening in the story it is a bit much. There was too much insight into everybody's thoughts and way too much description of how the light was shining or the water was reflecting or any other random atmospheric condition. It is a tedious listen. I was fast-forwarding 30 seconds at a time through several scenes

Unexpected

When i started it i thought it would be another cliche horror story but it was so unexpected and captivating. Coming up to the end, you start questioning everything. Brilliant

Who's on First...

I enjoyed other books by the author, especially The lake of Dead Languages Blythewood and The Seduction of Water. This, though a captivating story, was confusing with the who is related to whom, and never mind, they're not actually related, or ....wait! are they?...
The conclusion still works. I think one is supposed to be riveted when the family tree is finally laid out, however, I'd lost track of that entire thread, so it really didn't matter. To be fair, I listen to these types of "easy" yet entertaining books in the background, while I'm doing other things like cleaning or gardening. Someone devoting more bandwidth to the listen might succeed where I failed.

A Ghost Story Perfect for An October Listen

Goodman offers an engaging atmospheric and spooky story set in the Rhinebeck area of the Hudson Valley in New York state. I know the area and think she did a good job capturing its feeling of place and the mood of the setting. The story starts out a bit slow as the author sets the scene but gains steady momentum as the tale progresses. In the end, I thought it all came together and held my interest throughout.

One caveat--I might suggest skipping the publisher summary. This write up is filled with plot spoilers if you read the list of books they compare this book to. It's a lot more fun to go into this book without all the hints and preconceived notions presented. Ghost stories should be fun and take you by surprise--sans spoilers--at least to my mind, that is.

Campbell is one of my favorite narrators these days. I think she did an acceptable job here. Just a tiny bit wobbly in a few spots, but overall, I enjoyed her as usual.

Recommended if you'd like a seasonally focused bit of spooky October fun with minimal eye rolling required. I enjoyed it.

Me likey.

Enjoyable, interesting, inviting, spooky little story. Narrator very pleasant to listen to. Eill look for more grom this author.

Loved the ghost story

The reader was breathy which was distracting at times but the story made up for it

great read!

loved it! this was a great ghost story with a great narrator! a must read!

Hokey

I was expecting a good mystery,but got a trite and soap-opera-like story with some interesting parts.

Very enjoyable!

The book has an engaging story arc with complex and believable characters. The narration is wonderful.