Blog Tour and Book Review: TheWidowsWeeds #Indiebooks

BOOK DESCRIPTION

One evening, Viola goes missing.

The explanation—a visit to her son—seems doubtful, and her women friends’ messages go unanswered. A spiky, caustic woman, Viola’s heavy drinking makes her tiresome company, but they know nothing of her troubled past.

Yet, Maisie misses Viola. Recently, their shared love of gardening has almost blunted Viola’s barbs, and Maisie is much in need of a close friend. Her house is a building site, her daughter’s wedding is looming. Most worrying is her friendship with handsome, formidable Oliver Harrington. She cannot work out what he wants from it, nor, really, what she wants, either. She barely has time to wonder where Viola has gone.

As Maisie grapples with her present-day preoccupations, Viola’s tale unfolds: a dark landscape of tragedy and suffering. Their two stories collide in an explosive finale. Can the two women rescue each other?

This third book in the Widows series stands alone. A story of weeds and wildflowers, tenacity and tenderness, and containing potentially upsetting details of domestic abuse, alcoholism, and bereavement, this is ultimately an affirmation of the strength and power of women’s friendships.

BOOK REVIEW

This is an extremely well-written novel that will reach out and grab your feelings, and it won’t let go until the last page. I felt sadness, rage, surprise, exasperation, suspicion, and also peace, friendship, and heart-touching joy all in the space of around 400 pages. As the book description says, there is domestic abuse in this book, and it just explodes off the page in violence, manipulation, pain, and fury. It is real-life writing that doesn’t pull any punches. The book is mainly written from the points of view of either Viola or Maisie. The chapters entitled Viola are written in past tense, while the chapters entitled Maisie are written in present tense. I think that is a nice and skillful touch from a talented author.

I love the role of the garden in this book as an escape and a place of joy in the midst of trouble. The humble weed is also lifted up and even given some respect in this beautiful, gritty, and realistic story. As Viola says, “Weeds are flowers, just like the cultivars. You’ve got to admire them, really. They’re so tenacious, flourishing in the most unpromising soils and situations. You can tear them out, chop them up and throw them on the fire, but still, they survive. Like widows, really, when you think about it.”

This is the third book in the Widows series, and it can definitely stand alone. I, however, plan to check out the first two. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about strong women.

I received a free copy of this book. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Allie Cresswell is the recipient of two coveted One Stop Fiction Five Star Awards and three Readers’ Favorite Awards

Allie was born in Stockport, UK and began writing fiction as soon as she could hold a pencil.

Allie recalls: ‘I was about 8 years old. Our teacher asked us to write about a family occasion and I launched into a detailed, harrowing and entirely fictional account of my grandfather’s funeral. I think he died very soon after I was born; certainly I have no memory of him and definitely did not attend his funeral, but I got right into the details, making them up as I went along (I decided he had been a Vicar, which I spelled ‘Vice’). My teacher obviously considered this outpouring very good bereavement therapy so she allowed me to continue with the story on several subsequent days, and I got out of maths and PE on a few occasions before I was rumbled.’

She went on to do a BA in English Literature at Birmingham University and an MA at Queen Mary College, London.

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