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A couple pages into Jess Montgomery’s debut novel, and you know you’re in the hands of a skilled storyteller. It’s classified as a “historical mystery”—but there’s literary music in her words, which weave together to tell a story of two women who have lost the men they love, and who, despite good reason to hate one another, find their way forward to speak the truth and work for justice in the mountains.
Set in Appalachian Ohio in 1924, “The Widows” tells the story of Lily Ross, mother and widow of Sheriff Daniel Ross. On the day of her husband’s funeral, Lily opens the door to find Marvena Whitcomb, asking for Daniel’s help finding her disappeared daughter and missing coal miner-brother, Tom. Despite their background differences and the fact that Marvena and Daniel had a history before he married Lily, the two women work together to unearth the truths they must know.
With Prohibition, miners’ unionization, and women’s disenfranchisement as backdrop, Montgomery tells a story that will keep you guessing, knowing the resolution won’t be easy . . . but well-worth finding. Inspired by the true stories of Ohio’s first female sheriff and labor organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, “The Widows” is the first in a series of historical mysteries, which includes the newly released “The Hollows”.
“The Widows” by Jess Montgomery
327 pp.; St. Martin’s Publishing Group, January 2019 (Buy the book)
Note: For those who love audiobooks, this one is breathtaking, narrated by Susan Bennett with varied inflections and the right slant of Appalachian talk.
The story above appears in our March/April 2020 issue.
