The Disenchanted Widow cover art

The Disenchanted Widow

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £22.99

Buy Now for £22.99

About this listen

It’s the summer of 1981. Newly widowed Bessie Halstone is fleeing Belfast with her young son, Herkie. She’s wrongly suspected of pocketing £10,000, the loot from a heist carried out by Packie, her late (and unmourned) husband. Bessie has plans. She longs to make a fresh start. But first she must reach the safety of her sister’s home, in County Sligo, to borrow money for the trip.

She doesn’t make it. Car trouble forces her to sojourn in Tailorstown, a sleepy rural community. Her plans are put on hold as she decides to lay low for a while. She’ll need cash. She finds work as a housekeeper for the handsome but mysterious parish priest.

In the meantime, Lorcan Strong, an artist and a native of Tailorstown, is summoned home. With reluctance, he returns to the place where he feels almost a stranger, a town he has long outgrown.

A chance meeting with young Herkie Halstone leads Lorcan into the world of the disenchanted Bessie - and into a grave danger that has pursued them both from Belfast.

The Disenchanted Widow is an unforgettable peek into small-town life in Ireland’s recent past. It’s a glorious successor to McKenna’s first "Tailorstown" novel, The Misremembered Man.

©2013 Christina McKenna (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Money
All stars
Most relevant
This is the first time I have read a talking book. I'm on holiday and find it hard reading in the sun.so this was a great way to relax. I love the story line and find the disciption of the place it is set in running though my mind. Although I was a bit taken back with the violence near the beginning as I don't like to read that sort of book. I find the main characters voice easy to believe but the child's voice annoying and almost stopped reading because of this.

voice of child

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
love to hear more from the writer and narrator really enjoyed it very much

great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
if you can forgive the book for having no real understanding of northern Irish history, the story has a great number of characters, who whilst slightly dubious the book ultimately brings out the best within the characters. as a result the story is a great easy read and brought a smile to my face throughout.
however I would not recommend this book in audio, I have no idea who thought this was an Irish accent but it was truly appalling and I had to slow the speed down to understand it.

a typical Irish fiction book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this book eventually. After the amazing narrating by Gary Furlong for the first book, the Misremembered Man, I felt let down by the narrator of this book. The main characters accent was ok but the rest were a terrible let down, the accents were all wrong. But I enjoyed the story so kept going to the end.

I really enjoyed this book. But after the amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I tried to enjoy this book but the narrator's voice is dreadful. I had to slow it down she was to fast and the boys voice was hideous.

The narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews