Whanganuilibrary.com
Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The testament of Harold's wife / Lynne Hugo.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, New York : Kensington Books, [2018]Description: viii, 228 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781496716682
  • 149671668X
Other title:
  • Testament of Harolds wife
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: "After losing her husband, Harold, and her beloved grandson, Cody, within the past year, Louisa has two choices. She can fade away on her Indiana family farm, where her companionship comes courtesy of her aging chickens and an argumentative cat. Or, she can concoct A Plan. Louisa, a retired schoolteacher who's as smart, sassy, and irreverent as ever, isn't the fading away type. The drunk driver who killed Cody got off scot-free by lying about a deer on the road. Harold had tried to take matters into his own hands, but was thwarted by Gus, the local sheriff. Now Louisa decides to take up Harold's cause, though it will mean outsmarting Gus, who's developed an unwelcome crush on her, and staying ahead of her adult son who's found solace in a money-draining cult and terrible art. Louisa's love of life is rekindled as the spring sun warms her cornfields and she goes into action. But even the most Perfect Plans can go awry. A wounded buck, and a teenage boy on the land she treasures help Louisa see that the enduring beauty of the natural world and the mystery of human connection are larger than revenge . . . and so is justice"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Fiction Davis (Central) Library Fiction Collection (New) Fiction Collection (New) HUGO Available T00819419
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

After losing her husband, Harold, and her beloved grandson, Cody, within the past year, Louisa has two choices. She can fade away on her Indiana family farm, where her companionship comes courtesy of her aging chickens and an argumentative cat. Or, she can concoct A Plan. Louisa, a retired schoolteacher who's as smart, sassy, and irreverent as ever, isn't the fading away type.

The drunk driver who killed Cody got off scot-free by lying about a deer on the road. Harold had tried to take matters into his own hands, but was thwarted by Gus, the local sheriff. Now Louisa decides to take up Harold's cause, though it will mean outsmarting Gus, who's developed an unwelcome crush on her, and staying ahead of her adult son who's found solace in a money-draining cult and terrible art.

Louisa's love of life is rekindled as the spring sun warms her cornfields and she goes into action. But even the most Perfect Plans can go awry. A wounded buck, and a teenage boy on the land she treasures help Louisa see that the enduring beauty of the natural world and the mystery of human connection are larger than revenge . . . and so is justice.

"I adored this fun yet poignant book."
-Diane Chamberlain, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Marriage

Includes discussion questions.

"After losing her husband, Harold, and her beloved grandson, Cody, within the past year, Louisa has two choices. She can fade away on her Indiana family farm, where her companionship comes courtesy of her aging chickens and an argumentative cat. Or, she can concoct A Plan. Louisa, a retired schoolteacher who's as smart, sassy, and irreverent as ever, isn't the fading away type. The drunk driver who killed Cody got off scot-free by lying about a deer on the road. Harold had tried to take matters into his own hands, but was thwarted by Gus, the local sheriff. Now Louisa decides to take up Harold's cause, though it will mean outsmarting Gus, who's developed an unwelcome crush on her, and staying ahead of her adult son who's found solace in a money-draining cult and terrible art. Louisa's love of life is rekindled as the spring sun warms her cornfields and she goes into action. But even the most Perfect Plans can go awry. A wounded buck, and a teenage boy on the land she treasures help Louisa see that the enduring beauty of the natural world and the mystery of human connection are larger than revenge . . . and so is justice"-- Provided by publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

A widower takes up her late husband's mission to get revenge on the man who killed their grandson in the gripping latest from Hugo (Graceland). Louisa and Harold run a small farm in rural Indiana, and their greatest joy is their five-year-old grandson, Cody. When Cody is hit and killed by a drunk driver, their lives are shattered. As Louisa struggles to care for her distraught son, Gary, Harold begins plotting to destroy the man responsible for the crash-but he kills himself before carrying out his plan. Now, one year after his death, Louisa has decided to do it for him. Though the plot is promising and Louisa is a charming protagonist, Hugo tells most of the story through flashbacks that often pull the reader out of the scene and leave the current lives of the characters feeling stagnant. In an underdeveloped subplot, Louisa must keep a romantically interested sheriff away, but the vengeance plot and the revelation of Louisa's tragic past drive the book . Hugo's novel of thwarted redemption is a strange mix of caper and thriller that, disappointingly, never allows readers access to the whole of Louisa's experience. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Hugo's latest (after Remember My Beauties, 2016) is a sweet, sad, funny meditation on the nature of aging and grief. Louisa has lived with only her chickens and a former barn cat ever since she lost her grandson and her husband in a six-month span. Seventeen-year-old Cody was killed by a drunk driver, and Harold's mission became bringing Cody's killer to justice; when the man earned just a slap on the wrist, Harold felt he failed. Cody's father, Louisa's son, dealt with his pain by turning to Jesus and trying to get his mother on board with his new church, but Louisa has decided the mission of her life is to complete the Plan and succeed where Harold could not: she's going to bring the killer down herself. Throughout her pain and rage, Louisa never loses her humor or appreciation for the absurdities of her situation. This is a novel that would fit right in on the shelf next to novels like A Man Called Ove (2014) and similar books that balance humor and heartbreak.--Diana Platt Copyright 2018 Booklist

Powered by Koha