The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers ~ My Thoughts

The Widow of Wall Street

The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers
Print and e-book, 352 pages
Expected publication: April 11th 2017 by Atria Books

What’s real in a marriage built on sand and how do you abandon a man you’ve loved since the age of fifteen?

Phoebe sees the fire in Jake Pierce’s belly from the moment they meet as teenagers in Brooklyn. Eventually he creates a financial dynasty and she trusts him without hesitation—unaware his hunger for success hides a dark talent for deception.

When Phoebe learns—along with the rest of the world—that her husband’s triumphs are the result of an elaborate Ponzi scheme her world unravels. Lies underpin her life and marriage. As Jake’s crime is uncovered, the world obsesses about Phoebe. Did she know her life was fabricated by fraud? Did she partner with her husband in hustling billions from pensioners, charities, and CEOs? Was she his accomplice in stealing from their family and neighbors?

Debate rages as to whether love and loyalty blinded her to his crimes or if she chose to live in denial. While Jake is trapped in the web of his own deceit, Phoebe is faced with an unbearable choice. Her children refuse to see her if she remains at their father’s side, but abandoning Jake, a man she’s known since childhood, feels cruel and impossible.

From Brooklyn to Greenwich to Manhattan, from penthouse to prison, with tragic consequences rippling well beyond Wall Street, The Widow of Wall Street exposes a woman struggling to redefine her life and marriage as everything she thought she knew crumbles around her.

 

My thoughts about The Widow of Wall Street ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First line—"Phoebe never hated her husband more than when she visited him in prison."

I have been a fan of Randy Susan Meyers ever since I read her debut novel, The Murderer's Daughters. She takes on social issues and makes them come to life with the stories she writes and the characters she creates.

The Widow of Wall Street is a deep love story, a love between two fifteen years olds who know they are meant to be together. Jake's ambition to not end up like his parents and to offer his wife and children so much more than he had, leads him astray as he finds himself working outside the law.

Phoebe stands by her man and trusts that he is an honest, law-abiding, and gentle man. As she learns more and more about this man she has known almost her whole life, she learns more about herself and discovers the strong woman that she has always been.

The Widow of Wall Street is another great story from a wonderful author. I really have loved all of her previous books and this is another one I can add to that list. Thanks for another great read, Randy!

I received copy of this book from NetGally and am voluntarily reviewing it.

About the author

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, where I quickly moved from playing with dolls to incessantly reading, spending most of my time at the Kensington Branch Library. Early on I developed a penchant for books rooted in social issues, my early favorites being Karen and The Family Nobody Wanted. Shortly after, I moved onto Jubilee and The Diary of Anne Frank.

My dreams of justice simmered at the fantastically broadminded Camp Mikan, where I went from camper to counselor, culminating in a high point when (with the help of my strongly Brooklyn-accented singing voice), I landed the role of Adelaide in the staff production of Guys and Dolls.

Soon after my brief stage career, I was ready to change the world, starting with my protests at Tilden High and City College of New York until I left to pursue the dream in Berkeley, California, where I supported myself by selling candy, nuts, and ice cream in Bartons of San Francisco. Then, world weary at too tender an age, I returned to New York, married, and traded demonstrations for diapers.

While raising two daughters, I tended bar, co-authored a nonfiction book on parenting, ran a summer camp, and (in my all-time favorite job, other than writing) helped resurrect and run a community center.

Once my girls left for college, I threw myself deeper into social service and education by working with batterers and victims of domestic violence. I’m certain my novels are imbued with all the above, as well as my journey from obsessing over bad boys to loving a good man.

Many things can save your life—children who warm your heart, the love of a good man, a circle of wonderful friends, and a great sister. After a tumultuous start in life, I’m lucky enough to now have all these things. I live in Boston with my husband, where I live by these words:

“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
—GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Connect with Randy

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