The Widow's War

By Sally Cabot Gunning

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060791586
• ISBN13: 9780060791582
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

4 and 1/2 stars

I'd like to have given this book 4.5 stars if it were possible. A very interesting tale of Life in America before the Revolutionary War. The Settlers were still very much tied to Mother England & abided by all the English customs as well as the laws. But there were a few people whose previous experiences & personal beliefs were radically different & were ostracized if they maintained them. A woman a that time had No Rights- she couldn't own anything & was fully under the control of either Father or Husband. But 1 recently widowed woman had the strength & audacity to make her own way despite those family & religious members tried to stop her! An intriguing story of a woman born with a 20th century mind making her way in 18th Century America!

Believable then & now

I enjoy historical fiction very much and this ranks with the best of them. Lyddie could be any woman, any era. She is strong, frank and forthright about her concerns and decisions. The issue of racial prejudice was handled with wonderful candor and honesty. The conclusion of the story made sense, without giving us a fairy tale ending. This would be a great discussion book.

A widow in pre-Revolutionary America discovers she can live without a man

Lyddie, a whaler's wife, is widowed when her husband drowns. The law at the time gives her a life interest in the widow's 1/3 dower rights, and leaves her property and support at the mercy of her unsympathetic and greedy son-in-law. Sally Gunning describes the events that lead Lyddie to declaring her independence of her son-in-law, and of the other men who become involved in her life - an Indian who becomes her lover for a time, and a lawyer who wants to marry her. Inspired by what she learned of James Otis, who fought some trade acts in a legal battle that John Adams described as "Then and there the child Independence was born.", Lyddie learns that she can organize and run her life without having a man as her "master". Sally Gunning presents well-rounded, very human and believable characters, with all of the faults, frailties, and triumphs of being human. Her setting and the events taking place around that community are very believable. For a feminist (me), this story is a reminder of how far women have come, told in a well-written fashion. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable read.

. . . A War Against Patriarchy

I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up at my library. It was on a table of new offerings, so I took a look. As its milieu was Cape Cod, where I have spent many a summer, and it dealt with mid-eighteenth century living there, I took it home. I'm very glad that I did. Almost immediately I was deeply involved with the story of Lyddie Berry, recently widowed wife of Edward, a whale-hunter, and housewife in Satucket Village (modern-day Harwich), Massachusetts in 1761. The story opens with her husband called to get to his boat for there are whales in the Massachusetts Bay. The weather is strong and his boat capsizes. He is lost. Lyddie's one surviving child had married a twice-widowered man whom Lyddie does not particularly like. Nathan Clarke is an officious, self-important man who expects his will to be done, no questions asked. When Lyddie, as Edward's "relict." is left dependent on Nathan under her husband's will, she chafes and, ultimately, rebels. The author clearly has done exhaustive research because the reader gets such a full understanding of Satucket Village, its social strictures and the hardship of living in those days. But this is more than a history lesson -- it is a terrific story. The writing is crisp and beautifully descriptive. One feels as though one has suffered through the long, cold, damp winter on the Cape with Lyddie. As a widow, she has no authority to live on her own, but as a capable, intelligent woman, she cannot abide being dependent on others. After all, she ran her household for months at a time when Edward was away on his whaling trips. She was her own manager then. What really changed? And now she must sit as a dowager in a back room of her daughter's home and become an old woman at the age of 39? Intolerable! The average woman of this time and place made virtually everything she needed from candles, to cheese, to linen, to beer. Lyddie was an expert at survival. Her only "misfortune" was to have had a strong spirit and a quick mind - not qualities appreciated in women of her day. But her story will be appreciated by all who take the time to read it.

Do not miss this provocative work!!

An unbelievably moving and provocative story, with characters that come alive and draw the reader in. Seldom has a story invoked such emotion within, as The Widow's War managed to do. It is a literary work of art ,that demands a permanent fixture on one's bookshelf. I felt such compassion and extreme admiration for Lyddie. She was such a strong and likable person. It was easy to step into her and go through each emotion and hardship, along with the bits of happiness. This story also allows one to catch a glimpse of life in the mid-1700's - especially from a woman's perspective. How thankful it made me to be a woman of today's society, rather than one from that time period, where a woman was more or less viewed as a possession, of sorts, who lived through and for a man, rather than for herself. The Widow's War - so appropriately titled - is a delectable piece of literary dessert, meant to be savored and cherished from page to page. It is sure to become a classic and is one that I will highly recommend to family, friends and book groups. This story is a definite not to be missed read!