Woman in Red: A Novel
Written by Eileen Goudge
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
4.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Alice is aided by Colin McGinty, a recovering alcoholic and 9/11 widower, also recently returned to the island in the aftermath of his grandfather's death. Colin's grandfather, a famous artist, is best known for his haunting portrait, Woman in Red, which happens to be of Alice's grandmother. In a tale that weaves the past with the present, we come to know the story behind the portrait, of the forbidden wartime romance between William McGinty and Eleanor Styles, and the deadly secret that bound them more tightly than even their love for each other. A secret that, more than half a century later, is about to be unburied, as Alice and Colin are drawn into a fragile romance of their own and the ghost of an enemy from long ago surfaces in the form of his grandson, the very man responsible for sending Alice to prison.
Eileen Goudge
Eileen Goudge (b. 1950) is one of the nation’s most successful authors of women’s fiction. She began as a young adult writer, helping to launch the phenomenally successful Sweet Valley High series, and in 1986 she published her first adult novel, the New York Times bestseller Garden of Lies. She has since published twelve more novels, including the three-book saga of Carson Springs, and Thorns of Truth, a sequel to Gardens of Lies. She lives and works in New York City.
More audiobooks from Eileen Goudge
Bones and Roses Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Second Silence Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Thorns of Truth Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Swimsuit Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blessing in Disguise Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Trail of Secrets Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Woman in Red
Related audiobooks
One Last Dance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Flight Up: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trail of Secrets Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5When She Came Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Possessions Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5As Close As Sisters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Widow Waltz Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret Hour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Million Dollar Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking the Rules: A Novel of the Harte Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What I Remember Most Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Looking for Peyton Place Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Red Hat Club Rides Again: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Simply From Scratch Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Before and Again: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summer of Roses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOff the Menu Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sweet Vengeance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe She'll Stay: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beach House: Coming Home: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Two Sisters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Accidental Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wild Zone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeing Elizabeth: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Last Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Beach Trip Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Charleston Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ask Again Later Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Mystery For You
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Tender Land Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silence of the Lambs: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Listen for the Lie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When No One Is Watching: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Lies in the Woods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven’s Crooked Finger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tell No One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unexpected Guest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Extraordinary Impossible Crimes and Puzzling Deaths: The Best New Original Stories of the Genre Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hit and Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman in the Library, The Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Word is Murder: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Altered Carbon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One for the Money Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Grace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Woman in Red
7 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a multi-generational story with two timelines. It is easy to follow the two time periods and see how the story fits together, even though the characters themselves never know.
Alice Kessler is a strong woman who is dealing with one of the worst things that can happen to a mother. She sees her young son hit and killed by a drunk driver while he is riding his bike. She then witnesses the driver get off without even a slap on the wrist. Of course the fact that he is wealthy and one of the pillars of the community help with that. As she is leaving the trial, she sees the driver walking with his wife and loses control, running him down and injuring him so that he ends up in a wheelchair. She ends up in prison for nine years.
Nine years later, Alice is released from prison and heads home to Grays Island, Washington. To some she is a pariah, others try to help her. It is not easy and her son wants nothing to do with her. The story is about family, forgiveness, making things right and power. There is alcohol addiction discussed, rape, peer pressure and making the right decisions. Colin McGuinty has come to the island after the death of his grandfather, an artist. He is trying to make a new life for himself and is actually in the same boat as Alice to some degree. The second story line takes place in the 1940s. It is the story of Alice's grandmother, Eleanor and Colin's grandfather. Again, a strong woman trying to do right by her daughter, Lucy, while her husband is off fighting in the war.
This story has wonderful characters. There stories are real and are shared with the reader that you get to know them well. The setting of a small town on a small Island shows how people take sides, and power coupled with money runs the town. I really enjoyed both story lines as well as the unexpected twists that this family takes. I enjoyed Eileen Goudge's writing style. She was very descriptive and the text flowed very nicely. I am so glad I finally read this book. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5International family histories, San Juan Island type setting
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful story, from beginning to the very last sentence.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another favorite author! Dynamic writer. A must read! Tale of about love, family, honor, justice, set in two separate eras. The interlocking mysteries of how these three families touch each other's lives unfold skillfully. Goudge takes time to carefully develop her major characters and you fall in love with them! Would love to see a movie based on the book! "
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No matter how hard you try, people hold the past against you. When Alice Kessler stepped off the ferry, she could feel the ill will. It penetrated her skin, like the chilling fingers of the relentless wind. Grays Island, located in Puget Sound, Washington, held many wonderful recollections for Alice. But they were overshadowed by dark, vivid memories, full of pain, anger, and injustice. One desperate act had left her young son, Jeremy, without his mother. That was nine years ago. The complete emptiness she felt was devastating, like the fear now pumping through her heart. Slowly she climbed the hill, seeking refuge from the cold and her fears. Questions assaulted her mind. Will Jeremy, now a teenager, even talk to her? Could they start over? Where should she begin? Being open and honest with her family was a hard choice for Alice. A few relations attempted to hide their feelings, some pretend it never happened, others honestly want to help. Can she regain a place of belonging, or will she be labeled an outcast forever?It was bad enough to have the whole town against her, but when Jeremy is swept into the drama, it is overwhelming. Falsely charged with a criminal offence, the powers of the past swoop down like a vulture, threatening his future. In the midst of her struggles she finds support in unlikely persons, but dare she trust a stranger? Offers of help sound innocent enough, but what underlying agendas go unspoken?Sometimes, there are just no breaks. Unlikely chances often become the threads, on which the future hangs. Will Alice seize the moment, or will she play it safe? Does she have enough confidence to rise against the town’s powers, or will they pull her down?When the past and the present entwine, forbidden secrets are reveled. Will they transform the future or just add to the pain? Lady in Red is a sensitive yet harsh look into the lives of those who have struck out. But back at the plate once again, it is still the top of the ninth.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge is a tender tale about love, family, honor, and justice. The story is set in two separate eras on a popular summer resort island within the gorgeous San Juan Island group near Seattle. The novel focuses on the interlocking lives of three families. In the present is the awkward lurching-toward-the-inevitable romance of Alice Kessler and Colin McGinty—both barely-hanging-on survivors of life's cruel injustices. In the past, some 60 years earlier during World War II, is the tender tragic love affair between Alice's grandmother, Eleanor, and Colin's grandfather, the famous American realist painter, William McGinty. Eleanor is the rapturous Woman in Red in William McGinty's best-known masterpiece—this is a painting made famous by unmistakably capturing the true face of all-radiant love. In both eras, these two families are shattered by events with mysterious ties back to a third family. Here corruption runs deep, power is all-important, and greed is the name of the game. For decades, they have been one of the richest and most powerful families on the island—this is the family of the current mayor, Owen White. The interlocking mysteries of how these three families touch each other's lives unfold skillfully. Goudge takes time to carefully develop her major characters. I never lost interest, or stopped caring about them. The device of two parallel and interlocking love affairs kept me reading even when I knew I should have been doing other things. The ending is satisfying, although perhaps too neatly resolving the many threads of conflict—but it is an ending that is, nonetheless, unexpected and original. Goudge is an artful storyteller; she knows how to keep her readers' attention at all times. If I find any fault with her writing, it is that there is little sparkle and uniqueness to her prose, but I can forgive that in a good storyteller.I recommend the book as a mature, realistic, and enduring romance. I can visualize this book as a blockbuster movie with the same strikingly beautiful actress playing both Alice and her grandmother. If it does, I'll probably be one of the first to see it!