Announced on March 31, 1999
About the Book
Being married to a pilot has taught Kathryn Lyons to be ready for an emergency, but nothing has prepared her for the late-night knock on her door and the news of her husband's fatal crash. As Kathryn struggles through her grief, a bizarre mystery swims into focus, and she is forced to confront disturbing rumors about the man she loved and the life that she took for granted.
Torn between her impulse to protect her husband's memory and her desire to know the truth, Kathryn sets off to find out if she ever really knew the man who was her husband. In her determination to test the truth of her marriage, she faces shocking revelations about the secrets a man can keep and the actions a woman is willing to take.
About the Author
Anita Shreve is also the author of the acclaimed novels Eden Close, Strange Fits of Passion, Where or When, and Resistance. Her award-winning stories and nonfiction writings have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. Shreve is at work on a novel The Pilot's Wife, to be published by Little, Brown in May 1998. She lives in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Anita Shreve is also the author of the acclaimed novels Eden Close, Strange Fits of Passion, Where or When, and Resistance. Her award-winning stories and nonfiction writings have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. She lives in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Favorite Books
As a reader (and as a writer), I am most interested in the marriage of story and language. When I find a book that magically combines both, I am transported. Some of the novels that have done this for me are: That Night by Alice McDermot, Lies of Silence by Brian Moore, Cal by Bernard McLaverty, The Child in Time by Ian McEwen, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, and Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard. These are old favorites, ones I return to often, like going again and again to the well. Oddly enough, with the exception of the Hazzard, all of the novels are short. (Maybe this has something to do with the sharp shock of the short novel.)
Like many readers, I am continually in search of books that allow me to lose myself in an entirely unique universe. And thus, I am constantly adding new favorites to my list of old favorites. I am thinking in particular of The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman, The Untouchables by John Banville, and Mail by Mameve Medwed, all relatively recent books that have given me a great deal of pleasure. I can think of no other experience quite like that of being 20 or so pages into a book and realizing that this is the real thing: a book that is going to offer the delicious promise of a riveting story, arresting language and characters that will haunt me for days. When I find such a treasure, I immediately want to savor it, to parcel it out in small doses, to make it last.
Many thanks,
Anita Shreve
Book Reviews
"Until now, Kathryn Lyons's life has been peaceful if unextraordinary: a satisfying job teaching high school in the New England mill town of her childhood; a picture-perfect home by the ocean; a precocious, independent-minded fifteen-year-old daughter; and a happy marriage whose occasional dull passages she attributes to the unavoidable deadening of time. As a pilot's wife, Kathryn has learned to expect both intense exhilaration and long periods alone - but nothing has prepared her for the late-night knock that lets her know her husband has died in a crash. As Kathryn struggles with her grief, she descends into a maelstrom of publicity stirred up by the modern hunger for the details of tragedy."
— The Publisher
"Though sacrificing depth and credibility for speed, Shreve's sixth (The Weight of Water, 1997, etc.) is another suspenseful portrait of a modern marriage rent by betrayal and loss. After her pilot husband's plane blows up off the coast of Ireland, Kathryn discovers bit by bit how little she knew Jack Lyons. First, she faces a media frenzy when the flight recorder makes clear that Jack was carrying a bomb in his flight bag. Her illusions of a her so-called good marriage crumble, despite her belief in the love she and Jack had and the need to keep Jack's memory pure for teenage daughter Mattie. As she navigates the dark days with the priest-like assistance of Robert, the pilot union's grievance expert, Kathryn increasingly feels compelled to come to grips with Jack's hidden life."
— Kirkus
Get more resources on The Pilot's Wife, an Oprah's Book Club selection.
View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
Being married to a pilot has taught Kathryn Lyons to be ready for an emergency, but nothing has prepared her for the late-night knock on her door and the news of her husband's fatal crash. As Kathryn struggles through her grief, a bizarre mystery swims into focus, and she is forced to confront disturbing rumors about the man she loved and the life that she took for granted.
Torn between her impulse to protect her husband's memory and her desire to know the truth, Kathryn sets off to find out if she ever really knew the man who was her husband. In her determination to test the truth of her marriage, she faces shocking revelations about the secrets a man can keep and the actions a woman is willing to take.
About the AuthorAnita Shreve is also the author of the acclaimed novels Eden Close, Strange Fits of Passion, Where or When, and Resistance. Her award-winning stories and nonfiction writings have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. Shreve is at work on a novel The Pilot's Wife, to be published by Little, Brown in May 1998. She lives in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Anita Shreve is also the author of the acclaimed novels Eden Close, Strange Fits of Passion, Where or When, and Resistance. Her award-winning stories and nonfiction writings have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. She lives in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Favorite Books
As a reader (and as a writer), I am most interested in the marriage of story and language. When I find a book that magically combines both, I am transported. Some of the novels that have done this for me are: That Night by Alice McDermot, Lies of Silence by Brian Moore, Cal by Bernard McLaverty, The Child in Time by Ian McEwen, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, and Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard. These are old favorites, ones I return to often, like going again and again to the well. Oddly enough, with the exception of the Hazzard, all of the novels are short. (Maybe this has something to do with the sharp shock of the short novel.)
Like many readers, I am continually in search of books that allow me to lose myself in an entirely unique universe. And thus, I am constantly adding new favorites to my list of old favorites. I am thinking in particular of The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman, The Untouchables by John Banville, and Mail by Mameve Medwed, all relatively recent books that have given me a great deal of pleasure. I can think of no other experience quite like that of being 20 or so pages into a book and realizing that this is the real thing: a book that is going to offer the delicious promise of a riveting story, arresting language and characters that will haunt me for days. When I find such a treasure, I immediately want to savor it, to parcel it out in small doses, to make it last.
Many thanks,
Anita Shreve
Book Reviews
"Until now, Kathryn Lyons's life has been peaceful if unextraordinary: a satisfying job teaching high school in the New England mill town of her childhood; a picture-perfect home by the ocean; a precocious, independent-minded fifteen-year-old daughter; and a happy marriage whose occasional dull passages she attributes to the unavoidable deadening of time. As a pilot's wife, Kathryn has learned to expect both intense exhilaration and long periods alone - but nothing has prepared her for the late-night knock that lets her know her husband has died in a crash. As Kathryn struggles with her grief, she descends into a maelstrom of publicity stirred up by the modern hunger for the details of tragedy."
— The Publisher
"Though sacrificing depth and credibility for speed, Shreve's sixth (The Weight of Water, 1997, etc.) is another suspenseful portrait of a modern marriage rent by betrayal and loss. After her pilot husband's plane blows up off the coast of Ireland, Kathryn discovers bit by bit how little she knew Jack Lyons. First, she faces a media frenzy when the flight recorder makes clear that Jack was carrying a bomb in his flight bag. Her illusions of a her so-called good marriage crumble, despite her belief in the love she and Jack had and the need to keep Jack's memory pure for teenage daughter Mattie. As she navigates the dark days with the priest-like assistance of Robert, the pilot union's grievance expert, Kathryn increasingly feels compelled to come to grips with Jack's hidden life."
— Kirkus
Get more resources on The Pilot's Wife, an Oprah's Book Club selection.View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
Published 03/31/1999
