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The View From The Widow's Walk: A mystery novel of love and adventure in Key West.
Elizabeth finds herself on the side of a deserted country road with no idea how she got there or where she was going, knowing only that she was running from something. Following an astonishing letter found in her luggage, she travels to the island of Key West, trying to put together clues from her past while creating a new life for herself that, surprisingly, includes people who will have a major impact on her future.
346 pages, Paperback
First published January 15, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 14, 2021
To be fair I must say I didn't particular enjoy this, but that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it. If you are looking for a gentle tale written by a gentle woman, this is your book. Set in Key West, the author gives an intimate look into live on that island.
I do wish people would stop self-publishing, however. There is so much to be gained from working with a publisher. A story with good bones, like this one, suffers from a new author's lack of experience in professional editing.
I do wish people would stop self-publishing, however. There is so much to be gained from working with a publisher. A story with good bones, like this one, suffers from a new author's lack of experience in professional editing.
June 16, 2024
Was just eh, not good, not bad. Easy enough to read. Interesting story with lots of characters! Picked up at books and books in key west. Chose it because the story takes place in key west and it is one of my favorite spots. Good afternoon beach or poolside read.
November 22, 2018
Having visited Key West, this book heralded back to that. An interesting tale but with rigid gender typing. There was a recipe for Key Lime Pie at the end.
November 16, 2024
The writing technique was very juvenile even though the book was for adults.
April 29, 2023
Actually it’s a half star rounded up.
I bought this as a souvenir in a little shop on Key West during vacation years ago, and it’s been on my TBR list ever since. It was a fun trip down memory lane, as I visualized some of the areas we visited. But that’s where my positive review ends. I finished this only because my book challenge bingo included a square for “Indie Book” which I defined as a self-published author.
It earned every one of the “time I won’t get back” stars that I gave it. This book reminded me of why I almost never read self-published books. The role of an editor is greatly underrated by readers.
The writing was amateurish and stilted. “Said [name of character]” appeared far too frequently as a stand-alone sentence. There were unnecessary inclusions of characters’ wardrobe choices, and more exclamation points than a teenager’s diary. Parts of the book read more like a family Christmas letter than a professionally written novel.
The book was riddled with spelling and grammar errors – a scared arm that was clearly supposed to be scarred, minuet for minute, use of it’s as a possessive (or ‘s used to create plurals), “to much” when it should have been “too,” and mixing verb tenses in a paragraph just for starters. Punctuation was routinely outside punctuation marks, there were extra spaces between opening quotation marks and the text, and galley proofs hadn’t been reviewed for spacing between paragraphs and missing indentations. The extra commas were distracting - my high school English teacher would give us an F on a paper that contained three comma faults. I could find three in a single chapter, sometimes on a page.
A little research wouldn’t have hurt, either. The university is “Emory” not “Emery,” and the weather agency is NOAA not NOAH. I spent most of the book wondering if Winslow Van Rensalayer Morgenstern (spelled both with and without an initial R) was really supposed to be a Rensselaer.
I bought this as a souvenir in a little shop on Key West during vacation years ago, and it’s been on my TBR list ever since. It was a fun trip down memory lane, as I visualized some of the areas we visited. But that’s where my positive review ends. I finished this only because my book challenge bingo included a square for “Indie Book” which I defined as a self-published author.
It earned every one of the “time I won’t get back” stars that I gave it. This book reminded me of why I almost never read self-published books. The role of an editor is greatly underrated by readers.
The writing was amateurish and stilted. “Said [name of character]” appeared far too frequently as a stand-alone sentence. There were unnecessary inclusions of characters’ wardrobe choices, and more exclamation points than a teenager’s diary. Parts of the book read more like a family Christmas letter than a professionally written novel.
The book was riddled with spelling and grammar errors – a scared arm that was clearly supposed to be scarred, minuet for minute, use of it’s as a possessive (or ‘s used to create plurals), “to much” when it should have been “too,” and mixing verb tenses in a paragraph just for starters. Punctuation was routinely outside punctuation marks, there were extra spaces between opening quotation marks and the text, and galley proofs hadn’t been reviewed for spacing between paragraphs and missing indentations. The extra commas were distracting - my high school English teacher would give us an F on a paper that contained three comma faults. I could find three in a single chapter, sometimes on a page.
A little research wouldn’t have hurt, either. The university is “Emory” not “Emery,” and the weather agency is NOAA not NOAH. I spent most of the book wondering if Winslow Van Rensalayer Morgenstern (spelled both with and without an initial R) was really supposed to be a Rensselaer.
February 19, 2023
What I liked best about this book was the setting--Key West, Florida, which is where I live. The author knows the area well and describes the town favorably. I also enjoyed that it was a bit of a love story, but did not succumb to salacious sex scenes. It was a pleasant story appropriate for teen readers and older women who are sensitive to bawdy writing. While I wouldn't call it a page-turner, it did keep my interest and I was able to finish it in just a couple sittings.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews