Customer Reviews

Widow's War

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An unbelievably moving and provocative story, with characters that come alive and draw the reader in. Seldom has a story invoked such emotion within, as The Widow's War managed to do. It is a literary work of art ,that demands a permanent fixture on one's bookshelf.

I felt such compassion and extreme admiration for Lyddie. She was such a strong and likable person. It was easy to step into her and go through each emotion and hardship, along with the bits of happiness. This story also allows one to catch a glimpse of life in the mid-1700's - especially from a woman's perspective. How thankful it made me to be a woman of today's society, rather than one from that time period, where a woman was more or less viewed as a possession, of sorts, who lived through and for a man, rather than for herself.

The Widow's War - so appropriately titled - is a delectable piece of literary dessert, meant to be savored and cherished from page to page. It is sure to become a classic and is one that I will highly recommend to family, friends and book groups. This story is a definite not to be missed read!

As a weekend and summer resident of Chatham, Cape Cod, I picked up this jewel of an autographed book at the in-town bookstore.

It was such an in-depth study of characters as well as carefully researched historical information of the year 1761. When Lyddie's whaling husband is lost at sea, she faces total loss of power. With the male heirs, (even through marriage, not necessarily through blood) to be the controllers of the estate, times were not good for women. Faced with her loss of husband, as well as status, and economic freedom, she refuses to live within the constraints of her village. She becomes a nurse and an entrepeneur, making cheeses, selling eggs, and starting the second chapter of her life. She becomes estranged from her only child, who has married the keeper of the family home. Liddie refuses to sign over her third share, and dislikes moving into the dower room of her daughter's home. When she returns to her home, and forges a relationship with her neighbors who happento be Indians, the plot develops. The Indian, Mr. Cowett, who failed to pull her husband from the sea,has a crucial role in her life. The role of the Puritanical church is also integral to the story.

I hated to have the book end, and as I read out here on the foggy days and nights of the Cape, I MADE myself only read a few chapters at one sitting. By finishing the book, I would end the story. REMARKABLE NOVEL.

As a colonial American history buff, I loved this gem of a novel. I don't understand why it hasn't received more attention. The era and the characters were wonderfully imagined -- authentic-sounding (to me) dialogue and exactly the right amount of always relevant historical detail of 18th-century life. I didn't want the widow's story to end, and I'm hereby pleading with Sally Gunning (hope she reads these comments!) to abandon writing contemporary mysteries and give us another book like The Widow's War.

Lyddie, a whaler's wife, is widowed when her husband drowns. The law at the time gives her a life interest in the widow's 1/3 dower rights, and leaves her property and support at the mercy of her unsympathetic and greedy son-in-law. Sally Gunning describes the events that lead Lyddie to declaring her independence of her son-in-law, and of the other men who become involved in her life - an Indian who becomes her lover for a time, and a lawyer who wants to marry her. Inspired by what she learned of James Otis, who fought some trade acts in a legal battle that John Adams described as "Then and there the child Independence was born.", Lyddie learns that she can organize and run her life without having a man as her "master".

Sally Gunning presents well-rounded, very human and believable characters, with all of the faults, frailties, and triumphs of being human. Her setting and the events taking place around that community are very believable.

For a feminist (me), this story is a reminder of how far women have come, told in a well-written fashion. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up at my library. It was on a table of new offerings, so I took a look. As its milieu was Cape Cod, where I have spent many a summer, and it dealt with mid-eighteenth century living there, I took it home. I'm very glad that I did. Almost immediately I was deeply involved with the story of Lyddie Berry, recently widowed wife of Edward, a whale-hunter, and housewife in Satucket Village (modern-day Harwich), Massachusetts in 1761.

The story opens with her husband called to get to his boat for there are whales in the Massachusetts Bay. The weather is strong and his boat capsizes. He is lost. Lyddie's one surviving child had married a twice-widowered man whom Lyddie does not particularly like. Nathan Clarke is an officious, self-important man who expects his will to be done, no questions asked. When Lyddie, as Edward's "relict." is left dependent on Nathan under her husband's will, she chafes and, ultimately, rebels.

The author clearly has done exhaustive research because the reader gets such a full understanding of Satucket Village, its social strictures and the hardship of living in those days. But this is more than a history lesson -- it is a terrific story. The writing is crisp and beautifully descriptive. One feels as though one has suffered through the long, cold, damp winter on the Cape with Lyddie. As a widow, she has no authority to live on her own, but as a capable, intelligent woman, she cannot abide being dependent on others. After all, she ran her household for months at a time when Edward was away on his whaling trips. She was her own manager then. What really changed? And now she must sit as a dowager in a back room of her daughter's home and become an old woman at the age of 39? Intolerable!

The average woman of this time and place made virtually everything she needed from candles, to cheese, to linen, to beer. Lyddie was an expert at survival. Her only "misfortune" was to have had a strong spirit and a quick mind - not qualities appreciated in women of her day. But her story will be appreciated by all who take the time to read it.

When Lyddie Berrie's husband is drowned while hunting for whale in the ocean off Cape Cod, she falls under the "protection" of the law -- which in New England on the cusp of the American Revolution is not such a good thing.

This "protection" entails losing all her assets, savings and personal possessions to her nearest male relative (in this case, a boorish son in law), and allowing her either the use of only 1/3 of the home she shared with her husband or the option of taking up residence in whatever space her son in law will permit her in his own home, should he choose to rent out her former house or sell it. If she lives with the son, according to law, she is required to be as little bother to the family as possible, not ask to eat with the family (despite all of her income and assets now being in their possession), bake her bread separately at the hearth and only on day's when the family does not plan to bake, and become a useless relict at the ripe old age of 39!

Lyddie rebels; she finds a lawyer and loophole in the law that requires her son in law to provide for her if she decides to set up a separate establishment. Lyddie's fight to remain vital, her struggle to continue as a person whose life matters, is what the book is all about. But it's also about daily life. The way it looked, the way it sounded, even the way it smelled. Lyddie's story is fascinating. The book never falters. The characters are vibrant, their interactions real and understandable.

What this book is, aside from a great read, is a window onto Lyddie's world, and a mirror of the first faint stirrings of independency among the colonies: a fascinating look at life in New England in the 18th Century. From their clothing and how it was worn, to class interactions, sexual mores, social structure, even the meals that were eaten and how they were prepared -- every element of real life is seamlessly interwoven. I read the book in two sittings. During the second one, I armed myself with a tankard of ale (okay, a glass of Miller Lite, but it helped with the mood). Read the book and you'll understand why. In fact, you might want to add a hunk of bread and a bit of cheese. You will be travelling back in time, and should take the appropriate provisions.

I enjoy historical fiction very much and this ranks with the best of them. Lyddie could be any woman, any era. She is strong, frank and forthright about her concerns and decisions. The issue of racial prejudice was handled with wonderful candor and honesty. The conclusion of the story made sense, without giving us a fairy tale ending. This would be a great discussion book.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE AUTHOR MISS GUNNING, AS I WASN'T TOO FAMILIAR WITH HER WRITING EXCEPT FOR A FEW OF HER

LITTLE MYSTERIES . BUT, UPON JUST READING THE JACKET I LAID MY MONEY DOWN AND WILL NEVER REGRET DOING SO . I FIND IT ALMOST DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME AUTHOR, NEVERTHELESS , I WOULD HAVE GIVEN IT MORE THEN 5 STARS . THIS IS A NOVEL THAT IS LOADED WITH FACTS OF THAT TIME AND PLACE WRAPPED IN FICTIONAL CHARACTERS . STILL IT TRULY SMACKS OF TRUTH , MAKING ME HAPPY NOT TO HAVE BEEN BORN A WOMAN IN THAT TIME 1761 . I DISLIKE GETTING " TOO MUCH " INFORMATION ABOUT ANY BOOK AS I WOULD LIKE TO DISCOVER SOME THINGS ON MY OWN . I DON'T CARE FOR FULL BOOK REPORTS HERE OR ANYWHERE ELSE . JUST GOING TO SAY, I DOUBT THIS IS A BOOK FOR MANY MEN TO READ THO MAYBE THEY WOULD LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT WOMEN AND HOW FAR WEHAVE COME EVEN BEHIND PEOPLE OF COLOR . SO, IF YOU ARE FEMALE, LIKE PERIOD PIECES THAT HAVE MUCH TRUTH/FACTS WITH INTERESTING CHARACTERS ALL THE WAY THRU ....THIS IS A BOOK YOU WILL LOOK FORWARD TO READING IN PEACE AND QUIET SO YOU CAN SAVOR EVERY WRITTEN WORD. I READ IT IN THREE SITTINGS . BRAVO, MISS GUNNING , OUTSTANDING !!! BRAVO !

I enjoyed this book, but I thought modern sensibilities intruded. Individually, the widow's actions may have been plausible, but I found it unbelievable that a seventeenth century woman would turn her back on her family, abandon the church, rise above the prejudices of her time, and have several affairs.

An excellent novel, based on historical facts of pre-revolution America.

This novel revolves about the lack of rights afforded to women of this period under English Law. When widowed, a woman was allowed the value of one-third of the estate of her husband. The other two-thirds went to the closest male relative, who became responsible for the widow.

In this story, the widow's home, livestock and property came under the control of a selfish son-in-law. As the story unfolds, with the help of a caring lawyer, she tries to devise a method to live in her own home rather than having to live with an unkind son-in-law.