The Nowhere Child is his first book and one of Australia’s bestselling debut novels ever. Source: Affirm Press, 2019 About the Author, Christian WhiteĬhristian White is an Australian author and screenwriter whose projects include feature film Relic. This title won Christian White the Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction 2020.
Update: I’ve also since had the pleasure of reading his third thriller, Wild Place also. Given the moral and ethical questions this novel raises, it would make a great choice book club discussion.īOOK RATING: The Story 4.5 / 5 The Writing 4 / 5 - Overall 4.25 Get your copy of The Wife and the Widow from:Īmazon Book Depository Booktopia AU OR listen to the audiobook FREE with Audible’s Trial (check eligibility) If you slow down long enough it’ll start to grow, and it won’t stop until you’re covered. Guilt, fear, grief, they’re all like moss, Ab. Namely, the power of grief (as anchor and chameleon) and the corrosive nature of secrets. The Wife and the Widow grips and thoroughly entertains before leaving readers with much weightier issues to consider. This second standalone thriller from Christian White is indeed worthy of the media buzz garnered at release.
To say much more would spoil the surprise. That said, I still had not anticipated the full extent and gravitas of the killer twist at the ending. While I’ll try to avoid going into spoiler territory, I will confess to holding certain suspicions from early on. However, it is White’s skilful plotting and pacing that I found most successful.
She sensed a primal darkness standing over them, following her like a shadow, and when she went downstairs and saw that body, it would clap around her shoulders, drag her down and stay with her forever. And, their exploration of that eternal question, ‘How well do we really know the people we love?’ builds suspense. The dual narratives offer readers engaging character growth, the ‘still waters run deep’ variety.
Oh yeah, and why not throw something else that ‘totally weirds me out’ into that melting pot, taxidermy!Īdd in several of my favourite fiction ingredients - original descriptors, alternating narratives and feisty female leads - and you have a recipe for success. But in The Wife and the Widow, White has ratcheted that up a notch by making Belport Island (thankfully fictional) a popular summer holiday destination for Melbourne’s affluent, sowing the seeds for simmering tensions and acrimony with the locals who loathe yet depend on their excess. Personally, I do not think you can get a much creepier setting than winter on a windswept small island only accessible by boat. Disclosure: If you click a link in this post and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission.
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