Yarn Along - The Widow Under Blue Skies

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to find a copy of The Widow by Fiona Barton at my local library.  Summer starts with Memorial Day weekend here in the States, and at the Jersey Shore, it's not a weekend to hit the beach.  Ok, maybe some of us do, but I'm more of an off season beach girl; I'd rather enjoy the dirt in my garden than the sand on the beach this time of year!

So I was thrilled to have this book to read over the long weekend even though The New York Times review was less than stellar.  Rarely do I disagree with Times reviewers, but recently we just aren't seeing eye to eye.  I strongly disagreed with their take on American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers which I loved and reviewed in the fourth episode of my podcast, and I also take issue with their categorization of Jean, the main character in The Widow, as an "unreliable narrator who happens to be female" in their Shortlist review.

Somehow the reviewer thought this was another girl on another train, but Jean is so not.  Jean doesn't lie to us, she lies to herself.

Jean is married to Glen, a handsome manipulator who is accused of abducting a child in 2006.  The book starts immediately after Glen is hit by a bus in 2010 when Jean tells us she's happy to be done with his "nonsense".  Jean stood by her man for 4 years but now the press are anxious to discover what she knew and when she knew it.  A classic fictional female reporter named Kate - think an updated Glenn Close in The Paper - bulldozes Jean into agreeing to an exclusive interview.

Chapters from Jean's first person perspective are interspersed with third person chapters about the lead detective in the case as well as the mother of the missing child.  A great summer read, The Widow is perfect to read beside your garden or slip in to your beach bag!

I've paired this book with a hank of fingering weight sock yarn hand dyed by Robin Barraud of the Robin's Roost etsy shop in the colorway "Blue Skies".  Currently I'm doing a test knit in the same base in the colorway "Dad's Plaid Shirt".  I can't share pics just yet since it's a test knit, but I can say this yarn is a dream to knit with!

Robin was kind enough to sit down with me last month, and my interview with her can be found in the latest podcast.  She also graciously agreed to giveaway all 460 yards of this beautiful yarn.  There's a giveaway thread in the Ravelry group... but you have to listen to her interview to find out how to enter!