9780063036475
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The Widow’s War audiobook

  • By: Sally Cabot Gunning
  • Narrator: Kate Udall
  • Length: 9 hours 50 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: October 06, 2020
  • Language: English
  • (340 ratings)
(340 ratings)
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The Widow’s War Audiobook Summary

The Red Tent meets The Scarlett Letter in this haunting historical novel set in a colonial New England whaling village.

“When was it that the sense of trouble grew to fear, the fear to certainty? When she sat down to another solitary supper of bread and beer and picked cucumber? When she heard the second sounding of the geese? Or had she known that morning when she stepped outside and felt the wind? Might as well say she knew it when Edward took his first whaling trip to the Canada River, or when they married, or when, as a young girl, she stood on the beach and watched Edward bring about his father’s boat in the Point of Rock Channel. Whatever its begetting, when Edward’s cousin Shubael Hopkins and his wife Betsey came through the door, they brought her no new grief, but an old acquaintance.”

When Lyddie Berry’s husband is lost in a storm at sea, she finds that her status as a widow is vastly changed from that of respectable married woman. Now she is the “dependent” of her nearest male relative–her son-in-law. Refusing to bow to societal pressure that demands she cede everything that she and her husband worked for, Lyddie becomes an outcast from family, friends, and neighbors–yet ultimately discovers a deeper sense of self and, unexpectedly, love.

Evocative and stunningly assured, The Widow’s War is an unforgettable work of literary magic, a spellbinding tale from a gifted talent.

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The Widow’s War Audiobook Narrator

Kate Udall is the narrator of The Widow’s War audiobook that was written by Sally Cabot Gunning

Sally Cabot Gunning lives in Brewster, Massachusetts, with her husband, Tom. A lifelong resident of New England, she is active in local historical organizations and creates tours that showcase the three-hundred-year history of her village. She is the author of three “Satucket novels” (The Widow’s War, Bound, and The Rebellion of Jane Clarke), as well as the historical novels Benjamin Franklin‘s Bastard and Monticello.

About the Author(s) of The Widow’s War

Sally Cabot Gunning is the author of The Widow’s War

The Widow’s War Full Details

Narrator Kate Udall
Length 9 hours 50 minutes
Author Sally Cabot Gunning
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date October 06, 2020
ISBN 9780063036475

Additional info

The publisher of the The Widow’s War is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780063036475.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Jill

December 03, 2020

Historical fiction at its best. Story of a woman struggling to retain a little autonomy at a time in American history that did not allow for this. After her husband dies, the widow of the title is determined to hold onto as much of her independence as possible but the law of the land dictates that she is now under the care of her closest male relative, a boorish son-in-law. She uses as much of the law as she can to fight the system. A fascinating look into life in New England in the mid-1700s.

K.

August 04, 2011

Sally Gunning has done her homework. She knows what Colonial Cape Cod folk ate, read, fished, and cooked. But strangely enough, she also seems to be able to look into their hearts: a widowed woman stubbornly set against signing away her rightful 'widow's thirds' of her husbands estate just to satisfy a son-in-law's greed, a Native American who walks a line between his own nation/beliefs and that of the white man's village, a lawyer who is caught up in the beginning stirrings of ideas about property that will lead to American Independence.The strength in Lyddie Berry's story aren't the completely believable way that historical period is brought to life, but the way in which the author takes you on the journey her characters take even when their choices are difficult and controversial.Lyddie Berry's whaling husband dies, and it is the way of those times that she should go to live in her son-in-law's house and be taken care of. But Lyddie doesn't want to be consigned to a corner and have all her worldly posessions controlled by her son-in-law, she wants to make her own way, even if it means tieing her name in a scandalous way to her native american neighbor.Read The Widow's War to learn history. Read the Widow's war to follow along a nascent feminist in colonial America. Read the Widow's war to cheer and cringe at Lyddie's defiance. But mostly read The Widow's War to make you ponder where your own limits are; who are you willing to defy, what are you willing to do to make your way in life? And what are the limits of your own self will?This Book's Food Designation Rating: Corn chowder for the earthy, fundamental tastes of colonial history, with the underlying sweetness of the characters who will linger on your tongue long after the pages are turned.

Amy

March 21, 2010

It is often the small, unknown details of history that can be woven into historical fiction that change our perception of a time or place. In The Widow’s War, Sally Gunning deftly brings to life an aspect of colonial law. Anyone who has studied history knows that life in America in the 1760s was difficult, and that the area of Cape Cod Massachusetts was dependent on the sea, which in turn produced many widows. What may not be known by the average reader was the law which entitled a widow to the life use of one third of her husband’s real estate, with the actual title passing to the nearest living male heir. The Widow’s War not only illustrates the results of this practice it also examines the relationships of Indians and White settlers, the birth of Independence and the rights of man, as well as social mores of the time. Sally Gunning, a native of Massachusetts, has done her homework, and provided the reader with a cleverly imagined exploration of what a young widow in 1761 may experience. Historical fiction can sometimes become dry and dull as it tries to “teach” the reader, and include the necessary facts. Gunning however creates characters that struggle with real human emotion, making them accessible to the modern reader. She is an author to watch!

Timothy

February 24, 2012

Great read - compelling, page-turning historical fiction with a romantic triangle twist, yet so very LITerary too.I found this book because the jacket copy in another more recent book, John Smolens' THE SCHOOLMASTER'S DAUGHTER, compared that book to Gunning's. I'm so glad I followed through on that comparison. I tore through this story, although I wanted to savor it. It was that good, so good you hate to put it down because you can't wait to see what happens next. It's a 1760s tale from colonial Massachusetts, set in a tiny fishing village on Cape Cod. Lydia Berry is widowed by a fishing accident in which her husband of 20 years is drowned. Only then does she begin to realize her vassal-like state, as attempts are made to have her sign away all rights to the home her husband had built and where she had given birth to her daughter and her stillborn and short-lived sons. Henceforth she is to be called Widow Berry and is expected to live in a spare room of her daughter's house under the sufferance of her onerous son-in-law, who naturally expects to take over everything that once belonged to Lyddie. She rebels, and refuses to sign the necessary papers that would leave her homeless and beggarly. A local lawyer takes an interest in Lyddie, and in more than a legal manner. So too does her nearest neighbor, known mostly as "the Indian,". He gives her employment, first nursing his sick wife, then (after the wife dies) as a domestic, but this begins to develop into something deeper, although a lifetime of racial predjudice against blacks and "Indians" doesn't just melt away for Lydia. Eyebrows are raised and tongues wag in the community at this reversal of roles and the delicious possiblity of miscegenation. Lyddie Berry brought to mind another fictional Lydia, the heroine of Molly Gloss's fine novel, THE JUMP-OFF CREEK, set in frontier Oregon in the 1800s. Both are extremely strong and independent characters, despite the separation of an entire continent and more than a hundred years. All of the principals of THE WIDOW'S WAR are many-dimensional and intriguingly human, but Sally Gunning's heroine Lyddie Berry is a character you won't soon forget. If you want a good read that will immediately catch you up, I can't recommend this book highly enough. Go for it!- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

Deb

August 25, 2022

I enjoyed this tale about a widow of a fisherman, in a New England town, during the 1700s. According to the laws of the day, after her husband died, she was to give up most of her possessions, her home and independence. This did not set well with her. She decided to fight against the tide, regardless of the scandal it would cause.

Jacqie

February 24, 2012

Four and a half stars, really.This book was about a woman's struggle for independence in colonial Massachusetts. After being widowed from her fisherman husband, Liddie Berry is swept along in life's changes. She is expected to live the rest of her life with her daughter and jerk of a son-in-law,utterly dependent on them for any money, living space and food. All her belongings were really her husbands, and they all revert to her son-in-law. Liddie, to the surprise of herself as much as anyone, decides at the last minute that she will instead live on her "widow's thirds", one third of the house she and her husband lived on, wood from the woodlot, and a cow.Liddie, unsurprisingly in this time, has never tried to live on her own. She tries to figure out how to feed herself, make enough money to survive, and get along in town. She is both helped and hindered by Eben Freeman, her husband's lawyer. Sam Cowett, her Indian neighbor whom she had always somewhat feared, becomes a much bigger presence in her life.There's a fair bit of semi-romance in this book. Liddie has several men interested in her, but she is trying very hard to be true to herself and learn to be alone. I thought that Liddie took this a bit far sometimes. There were times when she could have used just a bit of charm and made life much easier for herself. But Liddie doesn't really believe in charm, she believes in self-examination and trying to be true to herself, even at the expense of severing relationships and putting herself on the outs with the town (a dangerous choice when almost all of her supplies and possible help in case of emergency are there). I did understand her terror at being at the utter mercy of even a well-meaning man. There's a great quote in the book by Liddie's now-dead husband: "the hardest thing in life is to learn to be half of a whole, and yet whole oneself." I'm not sure I have that exactly right, but it captures the push and pull of a marriage, the effort to be in the most intimate partnership in the world and yet be true to oneself.I wish the book had contained just a bit more at the end. I wanted to know what happened next.

Nicole

June 02, 2008

Lyddie Edwards received her widows thirds from her son by marriage because in 1761 it was illegal for a woman to own property. A widow might be entitled to life use of one third of her husbands property but title went to the nearest male heir despite their relative abilities. Lyddie like so many widows of whalers was used to being responsible for herself while her husband, Edward, was at sea. A whalers wife must see to herself, her children and her household for months while the men sailed to trade or to hunt whales. To suddenly revert to her childhood status of dependency was beyond her willingness to bend to societies strictures and restraints. Lyddie saw herself perpetually bent to the whim of her tyrannical son-in-law, Nathan Clarke, in fear of overstepping her widow's proper role. Mourning Edward and filled with regrets for the lost easy companionship she had with her husband Lyddie dreaded the narrowing circumscription she saw as her future. Instead she is inspired by her husband's lawyer and friend, Eben Freeman, to defend her self against her guardian. In increasingly open defiance of all that is expected of a woman she removes herself from his household and returns to take up residence in her third of the house she once lived in.Following this began a a sniping guerilla war between Lyddie and Nathan, her various neighbors, supporters and detractors, as to how much a woman could and should live with the 'liberty of one's own house'.This is not a black and white story with Lyddie the pure and driven woman against the vindictive Nathan, the church, the law, and society. Instead they are all people trying their best to live a difficult time, in a new country with many pressures and diverging goals. No one is right, or wrong, so everyone ends up compromising in some fashion to achieve an answer to the question "Are you content in your house?"For mystery buffs, while the Edward's death is not a mystery to the men involved Lyddie's understanding of events is. A part of the plot revolves around her piecing together the various tales of Edward's last whale hunt.

Mckinley

August 31, 2016

I like historical fiction and when it's well done I enjoy it all the more. The Widow's War is both an intriguing story and a social study on the structure of a 1700 century whaling village in Massachusetts.Lyddie Berry has taken good care of her home and her family for 20 years while her successful whale hunting husband is away. Her constant worry is that her husband will not return home. This sad case is exactly what happens at the start of the story.In the midst of her grief she must also come to terms with losing her autonomy; her property and rights are now in the hands of her nearest male relative. Unfortunately in her case this is her domineering son-in-law. Finding herself unable to live under his roof, she struggles against complying with his wishes. Under the law, she is entitled to one third of the house she shared with her husband or one third the profit from its sale along with only the goods she brought to her marriage some twenty years earlier.Searching for a way to recreate her life leads her to defy her guardian. As a result, she finds herself at odds with her family, her community including the church, and the law. In attempting to provide for herself she comes into conflict with her role and place in society. Yet, she must establish a new life for herself - one that honors her as an individual and as a woman.What is most compelling about the tale, is how Lyddie handles the new experiences she faces. Her growth, courage, and wit make this an entertaining and enlightening story.

Lauriann

October 31, 2011

This satisfied my need for a now-and-then historical fiction read. The time is the 1760's, the place is Cape Cod and the era is Whaling. Lyddie is widowed as a result of a sea accident. She finds herself suddenly under the legal control of her mean and bullying son-in-law. Lyddie is feisty and is a 200 year old fore-runner of Betty Friedan as she tries to maintain her independence from his "rule." Legally she is entitled to live in one third of the home she created and shared with her now deceased husband. But only one third. With her son-in-law controlling the remaining two thirds, she had every reason to fight for a woman's rights. I could related to her sentiments of desperately needing a place to call her own where she can live independently, albeit in near poverty. She rises from the ashes and in doing so is a like-able character. Two or three times I laughed out loud at something sarcastic or funny she said. I wish there had been more of those moments because they were so rich with humor.

Shirley

October 19, 2008

I loved reading this story of a determined, fiesty widow trying to retain control of her home after the death of her husband. The novel is set in 1760 when women had no right to own property so when Lyddie's fisherman husband drowns she is thrown of the mercies of her controlling son-in-law. His main concern is to make money from her property and drive her out of her home. Both widow and son-in-law are ingenious in the relentlessness. A pleasure to read.

May

April 13, 2016

I liked it. More 3.5 stars than 4. I found myself anxious for the Widow throughout the story. The story line was developed skillfully: portraying the cultural, religious and legal strictures that controlled a woman's choices in early American life.I do recommend it to readers of HF and strong women.

Amy

April 04, 2016

Really, really liked this book. I'm always intrigued by the hand women were so unfairly dealt throughout history. I would've given it 5 stars but there were a few parts that seemed to ramble needlessly. All in all, great read if you like strong female characters set within historical contexts.

Cheryl

October 12, 2013

Sally Gunning writes an excellent story with writing that brings vivid images and well-developed characters. This is the second book I have read by her and am beginning a third. Bravo!

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