More than three decades after the events described in The Witches of Eastwick, Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie—widowed, aging, and with the...
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Nov 28, 2008
I've got 50 pages to go. It's better than most of reviews it received gave it credit for ... but it's not nearly as good as "The Witches of Eastwick" - the original appearance of these 3 ladies. I am always compelled to read the "new Updike" (as I am "the new Roth"), and I've noticed in his last few novels he has developed a penchant to referencing his characters' (who are mostly aging, as he is) body odors. The widows are all three of them obsessed at times with
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Dec 30, 2008
Katrina
rated it: 
The Witches of Eastwick was one of my favorite guilty pleasures of the eighties, but this years-removed sequel just doesn't measure up. The Widows, now thirty years older, attempt to reunite beneath the cone of power they had used to upend Eastwick in their youth, but it just never comes together for me. At times the writing is great, especially as the widows tour the world together, but at other times it drags. Maybe witchcraft is best left in the hands of the young.
Dec 07, 2008
Stephen
rated it:
The witches of Eastwick thirty years later, now widowed, on the other side of second marriages, far away from sex and witchery, reunite first in world travel and then back in Eastwick itself. Once in Eastwick, they discover that certain echoes from their earlier mischief live on and eventually entice them to return to witchcraft and, in Sukie's case, sex. But somehow this book never quite rang true to me. Much of the travelogue was well-written but seemed here to be filler (gotta get 300 page
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Nov 21, 2008
Tony
rated it: 
Updike, John. THE WIDOWS OF EASTWICK. (2008). ****. Back in 1984, Updike published “The Witches of Eastwick,” the story of three women who lived in a small town in Rhode Island who got together and discovered they had “witchy” powers. That was twenty-six years ago. Now, all three, Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie, have left town, married (some several times), and are now widows. They have each faced widowhood in their own ways. Alexandra, who is now living in New Mexico, decided to travel. Of
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Jan 25, 2012
Eric
rated it:
This book was like a reunion with old friends. Novel consists of Three Acts (interesting to possibly focus on Updike's 3-Act structure to both books--Coven, Maleficia, Guilt; cf. David Mamet, Three Uses of the Knife). The book begins with Alexandra in New Mexico just after her second husband's death. She takes a tour to the Canadian Rockies, meets a man, William McHugh who turns out to be gay (25).
Jane Smart contacts Alexandra via letter to inform Lexa of her husband's death (31). They More...
Jane Smart contacts Alexandra via letter to inform Lexa of her husband's death (31). They More...
Oct 04, 2011
Betsy
rated it: 
The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike, Ballantine Books, 2008
The novel The Witches of Eastwick written by John Updike made me wish I had the chance to ask him “Who pooped on your birthday cake?” If one is looking for a light easy read this is definitely not the way to go. A male chauvinist excited to have a forum on which to slam women has very obviously written the female characters, who remain flat until the very end of the novel. Not only the characters but also the diction use More...
The novel The Witches of Eastwick written by John Updike made me wish I had the chance to ask him “Who pooped on your birthday cake?” If one is looking for a light easy read this is definitely not the way to go. A male chauvinist excited to have a forum on which to slam women has very obviously written the female characters, who remain flat until the very end of the novel. Not only the characters but also the diction use More...
Jun 08, 2011
Carolina
rated it:
It’s been 30 years since the comely coven of Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie left Eastwick behind for separate lives with newly conjured husbands, Alexandra to an artist in New Mexico; Jane to a well-to-do financial consultant in New England; and Sukie to a nouveau-riche entrepreneur in Connecticut. Who’s to say if they left Eastwick for a second chance at love and happiness or was it to escape the shame and guilt of having killed one of their own? Perhaps they left to avoid the ire of their numerous
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Dec 10, 2010
Caitlin
rated it:
This is really a 3.75, but I like Updike enough to give him the full 4 stars. I read this in about 2 days (while I should have been studying.)
I think _Widows_ illustrates some of what is so compelling--and so dirty--about Updike. To a younger reader, there's a certain horror in learning how little the widows care for their children, how disposable their husbands were, and how attached they are to both husbands and children nonetheless. Is this what aging is like?
There's a More...
I think _Widows_ illustrates some of what is so compelling--and so dirty--about Updike. To a younger reader, there's a certain horror in learning how little the widows care for their children, how disposable their husbands were, and how attached they are to both husbands and children nonetheless. Is this what aging is like?
There's a More...
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May 03, 2010
Mommalibrarian
rated it: 
"How quickly, Alexandra thought, they had slipped back into being a trio, a trinity coming together to form a cone of power. It was not that she like the other two women better than her leathery, bohemian, long-haired, jeans-clad female friends in Taos - comparatively, Sukie and Jane had narrow, Northeastern horizons - but in their company she felt more powerful, more deeply appreciated, more positively enjoyed. They had known her at the height of her desirability, in a society that, isola
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Feb 20, 2010
Ted
rated it:
Having read the first book (and seen the movie), I'm disappointed in this sequel. Putting aside my feelings on the characters and their adventures in the first novel, this book on its own has a very weak "plot" and a poor structure.
Once upon a time, Alex, Jane and Sukie were best friends living in a small town in Rhode Island, dabbling both in sorcery and seduction of their neighbours. Thirty years on, they have gone their separate ways, found love and subsequently lost i More...
Once upon a time, Alex, Jane and Sukie were best friends living in a small town in Rhode Island, dabbling both in sorcery and seduction of their neighbours. Thirty years on, they have gone their separate ways, found love and subsequently lost i More...
Jun 22, 2009
Alice
rated it:
The Widows of Eastwick is John Updike's last published book (he died January 27th, 2009 of lung cancer)and just because it was his last book, that in itself is worth the read. I love Updike's short story, "A&P" but haven't had the pleaure of reading any of his novels -- "Widows" was my first foray into Updikeland. I enjoyed his tangents about aging, loss and decreptitude. These are all surely issues that were on his mind as he was sick with lung cancer. The book, however, is
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Jan 18, 2009
melissa
rated it:
First of all let me say, I never read the first book, although I did see the movie. This book is nothing like the movie, but then again, I have heard the first book is nothing like the movie either. In my mind, I kept seeing the actresses (Cher, Susan Serandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer.) As much as I enjoyed the writing, it took a while to get into, as it sometimes had long sentences, and even longer paragraphs. Once I picked up the flow, it wasn’t too bad. I found it to be well researched, bu
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Jan 11, 2009
Rosemary
rated it:
Updike's acerbic wit is off and running in "The Widows of
Eastwick." I can easily conjure up the film sequel to his
1984, "The Witches of Eastwick," with Kathy Bates as
Alexandra, Meryl Streep as Sukie, and Lily Tomlin as Jane.
That said, "The Widows" are geriatric has-beens of their
former selves thirty years ago. Updike, who is now 76,
may be impatiently damning and mocking the entire
American way of life, with its superf More...
Eastwick." I can easily conjure up the film sequel to his
1984, "The Witches of Eastwick," with Kathy Bates as
Alexandra, Meryl Streep as Sukie, and Lily Tomlin as Jane.
That said, "The Widows" are geriatric has-beens of their
former selves thirty years ago. Updike, who is now 76,
may be impatiently damning and mocking the entire
American way of life, with its superf More...
Mar 01, 2009
Johnsergeant
rated it:
Narrated by Kate Reading
11 hrs and 1 mins
Publisher's Summary
More than three decades have passed since the events described in John Updike's The Witches of Eastwick. The three divorcées - Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie - have left town, remarried, and become widows. They cope with their grief and solitude as widows do: they travel the world, to such foreign lands as Canada, Egypt, and China, and renew old acquaintance. Why not, Sukie and Jane ask Alexandra, go back to Eastwick More...
11 hrs and 1 mins
Publisher's Summary
More than three decades have passed since the events described in John Updike's The Witches of Eastwick. The three divorcées - Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie - have left town, remarried, and become widows. They cope with their grief and solitude as widows do: they travel the world, to such foreign lands as Canada, Egypt, and China, and renew old acquaintance. Why not, Sukie and Jane ask Alexandra, go back to Eastwick More...
Aug 02, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Picks up 30 years after Witches of Eastwick left off, the witches, now widows are far from Eastwick. Jane the least likable slutty one in CT, Sukie, the young, slutty one, in MA, and Alexandra, the old slutty one has gone the farthest, Taos, NM. Alexandra (by way of Updike) has a very east coast relationship with Taos, marrying a "cowboy potter" who creates his own versions of Native American pottery and most of her sections read like the intro to a NM guidebook. Updike by way of Ale
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Apr 15, 2009
Jocardo
rated it:
I had to relegate this book to the dark, Pit of Despair. Reading Updike is hard. Sentences go on for pages, thoughts could last entire volumes. I know he was one of the Great American Writers. I don't dispute that. I just didn't like this book. The first one was okay, and I forged through. But I've decided that life is too short for bad fiction and now I am not feeling so badly about not finishing books. The POD is getting bigger all the time!
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Sep 30, 2011
Tracy
rated it:
When I read most of the reviews on this book.......I was a bit frustrated to think I spent money on this audio book and I probably won't like it since I didn't like the Witches of Eastwick all that much and most of the people that read this book were saying it just wasn't as good as the first one.
Well.....I was pleasantly surprised....I actually liked this book better than the first....I enjoyed the 3 women/witches as elderly women and the things they thought about and the traveling More...
Well.....I was pleasantly surprised....I actually liked this book better than the first....I enjoyed the 3 women/witches as elderly women and the things they thought about and the traveling More...
Jul 20, 2011
Erin
rated it:
This got abysmal reviews when it was first published, but when I saw a hardcover copy for $5 at my local independent bookstore (Taylor Books) I snapped it up (tangent: when I got it home I noticed it has what appears to be the small box with numbers on the back of the dust jacket, which usually means a book club book....how do those get to stores? Remaindered? Something else?).
Anyway, enjoyed it more than I thought I might, given those reviews. I LOVED The Witches of Eastwick a More...
Anyway, enjoyed it more than I thought I might, given those reviews. I LOVED The Witches of Eastwick a More...
Jan 08, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it:
If it werent for the popular film version (1987), its not certain that The Witches of Eastwickplayful rather than powerful like the Rabbit novels and accused by some of misogynist leaningswould have remained as popular as it did. Yet, despite lukewarm reviews, those who enjoyed that first novel may find something to like in this sequel. Widows resurrects the fun of the original, and Updike is, as usual, a master stylist with sharp, sensual writing. Some critics, however, were thrown off by t
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Mar 03, 2011
Sam
rated it:
Okay, so I haven’t read the Witches yet but I’ve seen the film a few times and have even seen the stage show with Marti Pellow as Darryl Van Horne so I know enough to be able to enjoy the sequel (theoretically). However this book was a bit of a disappointment. The three witches (now widows) seem to have lost all their pizzazz, which I expected them to still have a bit of, despite their ages. Granted they have been struggling to live with ‘guilt’ of what they did in Eastwick all those years ag
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Sep 08, 2010
Susan
rated it:
This story was interesting enough, but not quite a good as Witches of Eastwick. The beginning rambled on about foreign trips some of the witches took alone, and with each other. It was quite a wait till we got to Eastwick again.
It was nice to have them reunited in town and shown all the changes that happened over the years but there wasn't much magic, unlike the previous book.
However, all this being said, I really enjoyed the story. The personalities of all the women we More...
It was nice to have them reunited in town and shown all the changes that happened over the years but there wasn't much magic, unlike the previous book.
However, all this being said, I really enjoyed the story. The personalities of all the women we More...
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Jul 04, 2009
Sheryl
rated it:
Updike catches us up on the lives of the three witches since they left Eastwick. They each conjure up a husband, and move apart to new lives. They come together again after all of their husbands die, and decide to visit Eastwick. Even though 30 years has passed, their reputations live on, and they begin to suspect someone is trying to use magic to seek revenge against them.
I listened to this audiobook, and was glad it had the same narrator as The Witches of Eastwick. She does an ex More...
I listened to this audiobook, and was glad it had the same narrator as The Witches of Eastwick. She does an ex More...
May 14, 2009
Chris
rated it:
This book was not very good at all and reminded me of why I never read more than one of his other books. It didn't seem like he had much to say so he had to fill in with a travelogue, physics lessons, gratuitous sex, and even a pathetic bodice ripper. It gets my goat when men presume to write from the perspective of women (a notable exception being the author of The Last Living Confederate War Widow Tells All). He did not hit the right notes to make the characters come alive and I didn't like a
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Jan 20, 2010
Andrea
rated it:
After 30 years, the 3 witches have reunited to travel the world and eventually return to Eastwick for the summer. You may think/hope that since these women have finally reached the Crone stage of life (read: wise woman elder), they'd be chilled-out, deep, and able to see behind the veils of this shallow world into the truth beyond. Or something like that. Either way, they don't. They are crabby and they bitch and moan about every little thing. I actually had to put the book down for a few days b
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Jun 10, 2009
Jose
rated it:
Neste livro, vamos encontrar as três bruxas de Eastwick, Alexandra, Jane e Sukie, muitos anos depois do que se passou em Eastwick, a viverem em locais distantes umas das outras.
A sua condição de viúvas volta a juntá-las e um regresso a Eastwick parece eminente. Mas seria realmente necessário?
A leitura deste livro foi como rever velhas amigas!
Não é tão bom como o 'As Bruxas de Eastwick' mas está muito interessante. Escrito com a calma que reflecte a idade das personagens, More...
A sua condição de viúvas volta a juntá-las e um regresso a Eastwick parece eminente. Mas seria realmente necessário?
A leitura deste livro foi como rever velhas amigas!
Não é tão bom como o 'As Bruxas de Eastwick' mas está muito interessante. Escrito com a calma que reflecte a idade das personagens, More...
Oct 21, 2010
Kylin
rated it:
I think the only reason I finished this book was that I start to get a little twitchy if I'm not reading something, and this was the only book on hand. I'd say the plot was bad, but there really wasn't a plot. Instead, there was theme of fear--of everything. This reads like a collection of rants, bouncing from topic to topic: fear of cancer; fear of not finding a parking spot; fear of aging; fear of not being a good parent.
There was a twinkle of a conflict that could have ascended in More...
There was a twinkle of a conflict that could have ascended in More...
Jan 17, 2009
Tracy O
rated it:
Liz said that when poets run out of things in their life to write about they start writing poems about art. I kept thinking about that for the first 100 pages of this book which were a tedious log of travel details in the Canadian Rockies and Egypt. The first Witches was so rich with the emotional lives of the 3 women. While I really enjoyed reconnecting with these characters and some of the great insights and clarity of Updike's prose, I just felt disappointed in how pale this was - there wa
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Dec 08, 2009
David
rated it:
So when I clicked the "read" option to bookshelf this poor excuse of a novel, I ending up wishing there was an option saying, "I gave up on this piece of shit nearly 95 pages into it because it was an even MORE watered-down version of Updike's alleged 'feminism' found in The Witches of Eastwick."
I wanted to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, hoping that perhaps after 25 years he might have evolved past the Silent Generation's warped social views, and maybe ev More...
I wanted to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, hoping that perhaps after 25 years he might have evolved past the Silent Generation's warped social views, and maybe ev More...
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Feb 28, 2009
This is like two books in one.
In the first half of the book, nothing happens, it's all character re-development using the device of a series of travelogues. It's like reading "What I Did on My Last Three Summer Vacations," by John Updike. Elegantly written, as you'd expect, but no action whatsoever.
The second half of the book is completely different, as the widows return to Eastwick, only to learn how much it, and they, have changed. But traces of witchiness rem More...
In the first half of the book, nothing happens, it's all character re-development using the device of a series of travelogues. It's like reading "What I Did on My Last Three Summer Vacations," by John Updike. Elegantly written, as you'd expect, but no action whatsoever.
The second half of the book is completely different, as the widows return to Eastwick, only to learn how much it, and they, have changed. But traces of witchiness rem More...
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Dec 29, 2008
Jennifer
rated it:
Not as good as the Witches of Eastwick, I must say I was a bit disappointed by this sequel. How many times can Updike use the description "pequant" in one novel? I was disappointed with the elderly loss of power, and the loss of connection. Nothing like a feminist revolution to spark 3 women into action and open dialogue regarding discontent in unhappy marriages and unfulfilling roles as mothers- but to age them and find them afraid of the power they had once tapped into- this was s
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