She knew that Glen was a victim of a police plot. She bumbled on with her life, cooking tea, washing customers' hair, sweeping the floor, and making the beds. The Widow moves back and forth in time to build the story of Glen and Jean's marriage, their troubles having children, the difficulties of living through Glen's trials-and the switches Jean Taylor makes between 'Jean' and 'Jeanie' to protect herself: 'Jeanie saved me. To Jean's surprise, the police claim that Glen has not only been downloading child pornography in their home, they believe he's responsible for the disappearance of two-year-old Bella Elliott-though they can't quite prove it. A former colleague of Jean's husband provides a tip that leads the police to the Taylors' doorstep. The nonsense she refers to is the nightmare that turned their marriage upside down four years earlier: the disappearance of a young child in the suburbs of England, which sparks inquiries into local child-porn rings. 'Everyone was very kind and trying to stop me from seeing his body,' she reflects, 'but I couldn't tell them I was glad he was gone. Reporters want to hear her story and her thoughts on losing her husband, but Jean knows she cannot tell them the truth.

The novel opens on the recently widowed Jean Taylor, who has just lost her husband to a terrible bus accident. The Widow, Fiona Barton's debut, is a complex psychological thriller that weaves together the narratives of four characters to probe the depths of a terrible crime and the lasting impact it has had on all of them.

The widow by fiona barton summary