FABULOUS! REMARKABLE! I didn't want this book to end. I love and admired the main character Lyddie and her growth into independence. I immediately cared what happens to the characters. I wanted to know what happened next. A real page turner for me. A very quick read. Other reviewers love the historical detail. I kept wanting more MORE! I do hope that she writes a sequel.
Helpful Score: 4
Historical fiction at its best, this book tells the story of Lyddie, a fisherman's wife who is widowed and has to figure out how to take control of her own life--not an easy proposition in colonial, Puritan Massachusetts. You'll root for Lyddie as she battles her son-in-law and daughter, her Indian neighbor and a well-meaning but manipulative lawyer for the right to live where she pleases and do what she pleases. The atmosphere and the historical details are absolutely perfectly written, and the characters are vivid and multi-dimensional.
Helpful Score: 4
Title: The Widow's War
Author: Sally Gunning
ISBN: 9780060791575
Protagonist: Lyddie Berry
Setting: Satucket Village on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1761
Historical Fiction
Rating: A-
First Line: Lyddie Berry heard the clatter of the geese and knew something was coming--Cousin Betsey, Grandson Nate, another wolf, or, knowing those fool birds, a good gust of wind--but when she heard the door snap hard against the clapboards she discounted all four of them; she whirled with the wind already in her skirts to see the Indian, Sam Cowett, just ducking beneath the lintel.
Fortysomething Lyddie Berry is no stranger to grief; she's buried four of her five children. But when her husband Edward drowns while whaling, she's not only thrust once more into the numbness of sorrow--she's tossed into a new life she wasn't expecting. Being married to a whaler had accustomed her to a life of being alone for long stretches of time. It had accustomed her to being self-reliant and to making her own decisions. But Edward's will merely gives Lyddie her traditional "widow's third"--one third use, but not ownership, of his estate. Lyddie is allowed only the things she brought with her to her marriage and is forced to live with her daughter, Mehitable, her grandchildren, and Mehitable's petty tyrant of a husband, Nathan Clarke. Clarke immediately decides to sell the Berry property, and Lyddie finds herself living in a small room in the Clarke house, trying to be a useful part of the family without antagonizing anyone, and begrudged the purchase of a pair of buckles for her shoes. Breaking completely from her family, Lyddie takes her belongings, moves back to her home, and decides to fight for her right to live how and where she wants. Along the way, she finds help from a lawyer, Ebeneezer Freeman, and her neighbor, the Indian, Sam Cowett.
"Oh, Edward, she thought, how could you possess such knowledge of my flesh and so little of my spirit?"
Gunning did a marvelous job of putting me in the eighteenth century Cape Cod setting. Never once did I feel hit over the head by her research. Almost any woman can identify with Lyddie's plight. I was certainly no exception. The only thing that annoyed me in this wonderful, page-turning book was Lyddie's indecision about the men in her life. Cast free from Edward and all she'd ever known, she just couldn't seem to make up her mind about any of them. In a way, it's understandable. She thought she knew Edward and had a huge shock delivered to her on a platter at his death. It's no wonder that she became suspicious and indecisive about male motives thereafter. I would've much preferred, however, that she hadn't led them on while she was trying to make up her mind.
I enjoyed The Widow's War so much that I went searching for Gunning's other books. She's written another historical, Bound, in which Lyddie makes another appearance, and she's also written a contemporary mystery series set in New England. Ah, my wish list will never know an end!
Author: Sally Gunning
ISBN: 9780060791575
Protagonist: Lyddie Berry
Setting: Satucket Village on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1761
Historical Fiction
Rating: A-
First Line: Lyddie Berry heard the clatter of the geese and knew something was coming--Cousin Betsey, Grandson Nate, another wolf, or, knowing those fool birds, a good gust of wind--but when she heard the door snap hard against the clapboards she discounted all four of them; she whirled with the wind already in her skirts to see the Indian, Sam Cowett, just ducking beneath the lintel.
Fortysomething Lyddie Berry is no stranger to grief; she's buried four of her five children. But when her husband Edward drowns while whaling, she's not only thrust once more into the numbness of sorrow--she's tossed into a new life she wasn't expecting. Being married to a whaler had accustomed her to a life of being alone for long stretches of time. It had accustomed her to being self-reliant and to making her own decisions. But Edward's will merely gives Lyddie her traditional "widow's third"--one third use, but not ownership, of his estate. Lyddie is allowed only the things she brought with her to her marriage and is forced to live with her daughter, Mehitable, her grandchildren, and Mehitable's petty tyrant of a husband, Nathan Clarke. Clarke immediately decides to sell the Berry property, and Lyddie finds herself living in a small room in the Clarke house, trying to be a useful part of the family without antagonizing anyone, and begrudged the purchase of a pair of buckles for her shoes. Breaking completely from her family, Lyddie takes her belongings, moves back to her home, and decides to fight for her right to live how and where she wants. Along the way, she finds help from a lawyer, Ebeneezer Freeman, and her neighbor, the Indian, Sam Cowett.
"Oh, Edward, she thought, how could you possess such knowledge of my flesh and so little of my spirit?"
Gunning did a marvelous job of putting me in the eighteenth century Cape Cod setting. Never once did I feel hit over the head by her research. Almost any woman can identify with Lyddie's plight. I was certainly no exception. The only thing that annoyed me in this wonderful, page-turning book was Lyddie's indecision about the men in her life. Cast free from Edward and all she'd ever known, she just couldn't seem to make up her mind about any of them. In a way, it's understandable. She thought she knew Edward and had a huge shock delivered to her on a platter at his death. It's no wonder that she became suspicious and indecisive about male motives thereafter. I would've much preferred, however, that she hadn't led them on while she was trying to make up her mind.
I enjoyed The Widow's War so much that I went searching for Gunning's other books. She's written another historical, Bound, in which Lyddie makes another appearance, and she's also written a contemporary mystery series set in New England. Ah, my wish list will never know an end!
Helpful Score: 3
A very good historical story. Really gave me an insight into that time in a woman's life. I loved the main character Lyddie. I hated to see it end.
Helpful Score: 3
Wow, this book was very good! I HIGHLY recommend it! You can tell that the author has a personal connection with the characters by the way she writes them (the fact that the author is from that area of Cape Cod probably helps add to the detail presented, everything from geography to laws to characters seems so well-researched). She makes the characters seem so real, not one of them is "perfect" and all have their flaws. Even the "bad" characters aren't completely evil, and seem to have moments of humanity that seem sincere. The story is about Lyddie Berry, a recent widow (at 39 years old was considered old but possibly still marriageable by the standards of the day), trying to preserve her way of life best she can. However, her son-in-law, Nathan Clarke, has other plans for her & her property since by law he now holds the title. Lyddie, however, has right to 1/3 of the property, so Clarke isn't able to do anything until Lyddie signs over her rights, something she isn't willing to do. Her "war" puts her at odds with her daughter, her grandchildren, her friends (including her lawyer), and the community at large. Her friendship & later employment with a local Indian, Sam Cowett, puts her at further odds with everyone around her. All Lyddie wants to do is have the basic right of freedom, find out what really happened that caused her husband's death at sea, and somehow find a way to talk to her daughter again. You can't help but get sucked in by Lyddie's determination, feel frustrated along with her at times, and share in her sorrow over & over again as she recounts instances in her life that reflect the love she and her husband once had together. This story moves at a relatively quick pace, never feels bogged down, and has relatively short chapters that help it move along nicely. I recently found out that Gunning wrote a second book, Bound, about this same village & Lyddie plays a role in it, so look forward to eventually reading that as well!
