The Widow's Watcher

The plot is conventional, predictable and preposterous, all at once. The dialog is pedestrian and cliched (lots of “chuckling” going on). This seemed more like a Lifetime TV script than a novel.
From the beginning, as soon as old man Lars “saves” Jenna from falling through the ice on the lake, I knew where this was going. The author drags out the “meet cute” scene between Lars and Jenna (all that door-slamming!), then pulls out the old “part-needs-to-be-ordered-and-will-take-a-few-days” trick when Jenna’s mini-van won’t start. I guess the mechanic Owen wasn’t an Amazon Prime member.
And of course there are no hotels in or even close to this hamlet, so Jenna is force to move in with a crotchety old man in a shabby old cabin (but very clean, otherwise any normal woman would have refused, and there goes the plot). Oh, and a snowstorm is coming. No hotels anywhere close? C’mon. Maybe if it was Alaska, but in 2018 in the lower 48, you can’t escape from civilization that easily. And what’s a little snow to Minnesotans with four-wheel drive vehicles? If the book was set in the 1950s, maybe I would believe it. Come to think of it, this book reads like a tired 1950s romance novel - without the romance. ( Lars and Jenna argue, and I keep waiting for the indignant “Well, I never!”)
The plot, such as it is, doesn’t get going until near the end. There is one surprise, but not enough to redeem the book. If you want to read a suspenseful, lyrical and complex book about loss, try “There There” by Tommy Orange. I had just finished reading it when I started Widow’s Watcher. There’s no comparison.

Not great but an easy read that kept me entertained. I bought this book because of all the 5 star reviews but fail to see anything "amazing" about this story and the writing was just ordinary.

Note: May contain spoilers

“The world would always be less for that choice. But I guess the world deserves that, after what it’s done to you. Whether I like it or not doesn’t make me qualified to judge.”

First – this is the third book I’ve read and reviewed by Eliza Maxwell.

Second – I started to hate the story immediately because of the dog and then was crying at the end because of the dog.

Third – this will be always be fondly remembered by me as the Old Man’s story.

Fourth – How many of us have dreamed of simply walking away and winding up someplace else, being taken in by strangers, and creating a new life?

Fifth – always admire an author who includes a note with their book, as well as autographing it.

THIS book!

Author Eliza Maxwell can really craft a story that envelops me as a reader into the story where I care about the characters. Maxwell has a talented gift of making me wonder how the story will end. I make a guess and just when I think about in the middle of the book where she is leading the story, I’m completely blown away at the end of the book. You don’t see it coming.

The Widow’s Watcher is now fondly known by me as the Old Man’s story, because of my past experiences with a lady named Sycily. I made friends with her while working on a grant project. She was in her eighties when I met her. She taught me so much about life. In this book, it’s an Old Man who teaches about life.

Maxwell opens the story with a very distraught Jenna who has lost her entire family. She left behind the only living family member, Becket, the dog, so she could end her life in some unknown location. What transpires is Lars, the Old Man, saving her life before she stepped into the frozen water.

As the story unfolds you see that all the characters have a past they either forgot or is revealed. All to a certain degree have major pain they have dealt with. Lars lost his wife and two of his children. Owen, Lars remaining son, has his own forgotten secret. Lars’s housekeeper is not whom she seems. Basically, everyone has secrets in this book!

While Jenna’s past is very tragic you find out that life can play a tragic fate giving you what you dreamed and contemplated about. Lars tries his best to show Jenna that life is worth living no matter what’s been dealt you. The story evolves quickly after Jenna is asked by Lars to investigate his children’s disappearance.

As an odd side part of the story – Jenna’s subconscious comes through as her oldest daughter, Cassie. Often times it was disconcerting to me, but the voice of Cassie is what subtly reveals Jenna’s character and heart.

The ending pages had me in tears, mainly because of the return of Becket. Becket was all forgiving of Jenna for leaving him behind. If only people had the hearts of dogs – forgiving and all loving. In the end, The Widow’s Watcher shows us that if characters can forgive then why cannot we forgive in our real world lives.

Once again Maxwell left me emotional but in a fantastic way. It’s another unforgettable story. Isn’t that what books are supposed to do, leave readers remembering the story long after the book becomes apart of your book collection?

Wow. The Widow’s Watcher is a book full of feels. Happiness, sadness, despair, hope - Eliza Maxwell manages to cram all of these plus so much more into this novel, and I absolutely love every bit of it. The characters all jump off the page, and the plot twist is crazy good - and unexpected!

I fell in love with the way Eliza developed each of her characters to the point I felt like they were right here with me! The unexpected friendship that forms between Jenna and Lars is completely heartwarming and just goes to prove that sometimes the unexpected turns out to be just what we need in life!

I almost never read any kind of drama anymore! I prefer comedy and only what makes me laugh because there is enough pain in this world to overwhelm you if you let it. But my mother had finished reading this book and left it on a table, and I picked it up and started it, and I was hooked. Unlike some negative reviews, I immediately was drawn to Jenna and Lars and could feel the pain of both. And as the story went on, I wanted to know what happened to those kids, too, and I was dreading the moment when we would find out because I thought I knew. I did guess at some point that the van had to have been fixed way before she found out it was fixed, and they just weren't telling her. Someone said it was far-fetched, and maybe it was a little, but it was still a great story, and I couldn't put it down. It had a surprise ending that was satisfying. This is a great writer, and I noticed she has another book that my mother also has, and I plan to read it also. Harlen Coben is one of my favorite authors, and I thought this book was right up there with some of his best work!

Very fast shipping. Reasonably priced. Good clean book seems to be in perfect condition. Great buy all the way around. Thanks

I couldn’t put this book down. Very like-able and believable characters, well written.

This book was hard to stay with, but I finished it just to see what happened. A surprise ending that I didn't guess.

It kept me interested from start to finish