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The Widow
Aristide Pompasse is dead. But the evil in the great artist's soul still haunts the vineyards and lurks in the corners of his Tuscan villa. Known as much for his fabulous portraits as his penchant for young mistresses, Pompasse had not let anyone go until Charlie, his young wife, had managed to escape.
Now Charlie is back, to lay old ghosts to rest, to find the answers to who she was, to make peace with her past and her future. And there is no room in that peaceful future for a dangerous man like Connor Maguire.
Maguire knows what he wants. He is about to break the biggest story of his life—Pompasse's murder—and damn anyone who gets in his way. So why can't he keep his eyes and his hands off the old man's widow?
In the old house, where murder is a whisper away, and desire a dance in the moonlight, nothing is quite as it seems….
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
20 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
About the author
Anne Stuart
203 books2,062 followersAnne Stuart is a grandmaster of the genre, winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, survivor of more than thirty-five years in the romance business, and still just keeps getting better.
Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett.
She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines.
When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting.
Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.
Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett.
She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines.
When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting.
Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
August 13, 2013
I love Anne Stuart. Her style may be unadorned even terse, her heroes may be alpholes, and her heroines may be limp dishrags, but she knows how to spin a tale. She grabs me and keeps me turning the pages, frantic to find out what will happen next, until the creepy/scary/disturbing climax. And I keep coming back for more.
The story is a southern gothic transplanted into the sunny hills of Tuscany. The linchpin is the mysterious death of aging, egocentric, hedonistic, over-the-hill Great Artist Pompasse (or as I soon started calling him: PompAss). Stuart does a great job of simultaneously making you feel his greatness as an artist, and his utter worthlessness as a human being. Carrying on with ever younger teenage mistresses (excuse me, muses!), keeping on his discardedmistresses muses at his sprawling villa and encouraging them to fight over him, ugh! Though he dies in the Prologue, he's a constant presence throughout the story.
The hero keeps from being overshadowed by the dead PompAss by being one himself. I found him just too abrasive in the first half, constantly baiting the heroine until I starting wishing she would throw him out already. But it becomes clear he baits her because he wants her. He won me over in the second half with his growing feelings for her. A lot of the book is in his POV, so you really get into his head. Stuart did a good job with this too, you never feel like you're reading a woman's idea of what a man thinks like.
The heroine starts out limp but becomes more sympathetic as you learn she's pretty damaged. The hero's obnoxiousness works to get her out of her repression, and she's more lively in the second half. I ended up liking her and them as a couple.
There are some well-drawn secondary characters, who comprise the suspects in the death. Typical of a gothic, they include secretive servants and a crazy old bat (Pompass' first muse). Tumbled down old ruins, decaying vineyards, a storm or 2, and mysterious happenings all add to the gothic atmosphere. The denoument is ripe with hints of insanity and incest. Creepy!! Stuart plays fair, and a couple of throwaway lines early in the story turn out to foreshadow the rot at the heart of this family melodrama.
The story is a southern gothic transplanted into the sunny hills of Tuscany. The linchpin is the mysterious death of aging, egocentric, hedonistic, over-the-hill Great Artist Pompasse (or as I soon started calling him: PompAss). Stuart does a great job of simultaneously making you feel his greatness as an artist, and his utter worthlessness as a human being. Carrying on with ever younger teenage mistresses (excuse me, muses!), keeping on his discarded
The hero keeps from being overshadowed by the dead PompAss by being one himself. I found him just too abrasive in the first half, constantly baiting the heroine until I starting wishing she would throw him out already. But it becomes clear he baits her because he wants her. He won me over in the second half with his growing feelings for her. A lot of the book is in his POV, so you really get into his head. Stuart did a good job with this too, you never feel like you're reading a woman's idea of what a man thinks like.
The heroine starts out limp but becomes more sympathetic as you learn she's pretty damaged. The hero's obnoxiousness works to get her out of her repression, and she's more lively in the second half. I ended up liking her and them as a couple.
There are some well-drawn secondary characters, who comprise the suspects in the death. Typical of a gothic, they include secretive servants and a crazy old bat (Pompass' first muse). Tumbled down old ruins, decaying vineyards, a storm or 2, and mysterious happenings all add to the gothic atmosphere. The denoument is ripe with hints of insanity and incest. Creepy!! Stuart plays fair, and a couple of throwaway lines early in the story turn out to foreshadow the rot at the heart of this family melodrama.
March 24, 2021
A man ends up dead and his much younger wife returns, she who escaped his grasp once before. Murder mystery and a romance between the woman and the detective or whatever that is trying to solve the case. Eh no, this wasn't a book for me. I've previous read a few books by Anne Stuart and one I really adored, so this was a bit of a disappointing read for me.
June 28, 2018
Una tarde de domingo he pasado leyendo esta pequeña novela que tiene más carácter de peliculilla de serie B que novela romántica, con cierta intriga hasta prácticamente el final, que curiosamente es lo que le añade más interés a la lectura, una pareja que comienza demasiado encorsetada y previsible y que en la parte final es cuando nos traen los mejores momentos y con un pequeño toque de humor.
Opinión completa en el blog
Opinión completa en el blog
June 18, 2019
3 stars
June 2019 review: Yeah, I still feel the same way - not my fave but entertaining.
Feb 2016 review: Not one of my favorite Anne Stuart reads, but an entertaining romantic suspense.
June 2019 review: Yeah, I still feel the same way - not my fave but entertaining.
Feb 2016 review: Not one of my favorite Anne Stuart reads, but an entertaining romantic suspense.
March 17, 2013
Rating = 4.25/5
Rated as an AWESOME READ from the sunny side of life!
Review with quotes can be found on MBR's Realm of Romance once it goes live on March 18, 2013 at 00:00 hrs, MVT time.
Rated as an AWESOME READ from the sunny side of life!
Review with quotes can be found on MBR's Realm of Romance once it goes live on March 18, 2013 at 00:00 hrs, MVT time.
July 13, 2023
Easy little read, thoroughly enjoyed it. It contains suspense, wit and a bit of ribaldry.
The whole setting is frivolous but that also makes it entertaining.
Guiltily pleasure.
The whole setting is frivolous but that also makes it entertaining.
Guiltily pleasure.
August 15, 2011
Redonk Nutshell: Burned out writer takes tabloid job to write a book about a scandalous painter and his harem of women, and when he meets "the one that got away" he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her damaged yet strong temperment
You can't really go wrong with Anne Stuart, and The Widow is no exception. Riding on the tail end of my Gothic fiction wave, The Widow involves the twisted and bizarre story of Aristide Pompasse, a brilliant, womanizing artist who longs for the one woman that managed to leave him. His death brings her back to his estate in Tuscany to pick up the shattered pieces he left behind. Maguire, a tabloid reporter posing as an insurance broker, weasels his way onto the estate and begins to catalog the bizarre life that Pompasse lived. His wife, delicate Charlie, is a study in damaged femininity, having managed to be the only one of Pompasse's women that managed to successfully leave him. He is drawn to Charlie, especially as things begin to take a turn for the weirder when paintings turn up mutilated and suggesting Pompasse's death was not an accident.
Charlie is a woman that has barely managed to pull the threads of her life together with any sense of normalcy. Married to the brilliant artist at the age of seventeen, Charlie lived with him and his brooding collection of models and women for five years until she finally garnered the courage to leave. She's a shell of a woman, barely believing herself capable of feeling passion or contentment. When Maguire bullishly pushes his way around her at the Tuscan estate, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. When things begin to get heated, both in and out of the bedroom, Charlie finds herself floundering for her sense of self.
The Widow is a dark and bizarre tale set in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. I enjoyed the darker elements of the story that crept consistently throughout the background (traitorous mistresses, adulterous fiances, insane mutterings), and when the story came to a climax and all was revealed it was a satisfactory conclusion.
This was my first contempory read of Ms. Stuart's and I enjoyed it. It was a quick, fluffy read. No lie, I finished this in a few hours.
The Widow by Anne Stuart, 384 pgs, pub 2001
Rating: C
Romance: 1/5 Raunch: 3/5
You can't really go wrong with Anne Stuart, and The Widow is no exception. Riding on the tail end of my Gothic fiction wave, The Widow involves the twisted and bizarre story of Aristide Pompasse, a brilliant, womanizing artist who longs for the one woman that managed to leave him. His death brings her back to his estate in Tuscany to pick up the shattered pieces he left behind. Maguire, a tabloid reporter posing as an insurance broker, weasels his way onto the estate and begins to catalog the bizarre life that Pompasse lived. His wife, delicate Charlie, is a study in damaged femininity, having managed to be the only one of Pompasse's women that managed to successfully leave him. He is drawn to Charlie, especially as things begin to take a turn for the weirder when paintings turn up mutilated and suggesting Pompasse's death was not an accident.
Charlie is a woman that has barely managed to pull the threads of her life together with any sense of normalcy. Married to the brilliant artist at the age of seventeen, Charlie lived with him and his brooding collection of models and women for five years until she finally garnered the courage to leave. She's a shell of a woman, barely believing herself capable of feeling passion or contentment. When Maguire bullishly pushes his way around her at the Tuscan estate, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. When things begin to get heated, both in and out of the bedroom, Charlie finds herself floundering for her sense of self.
The Widow is a dark and bizarre tale set in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. I enjoyed the darker elements of the story that crept consistently throughout the background (traitorous mistresses, adulterous fiances, insane mutterings), and when the story came to a climax and all was revealed it was a satisfactory conclusion.
This was my first contempory read of Ms. Stuart's and I enjoyed it. It was a quick, fluffy read. No lie, I finished this in a few hours.
The Widow by Anne Stuart, 384 pgs, pub 2001
Rating: C
Romance: 1/5 Raunch: 3/5
December 3, 2010
I make no secret of the fact that Anne Stuart is one of my favourite authors, I have loved some books more than others, her older stories better than her recent ones but I usually always find something to enjoy in everyone of them. I still have a lot of work to do if I want to catch up with all her back list so occasionally delve into my TBR pile and see what I have there. This time it was The Widow.
The widow is Charlie, the ex-wife of famous French painter Aristide Pompasse who has just been found murdered. She is the executor of his will and so she must go back to his Tuscan Villa, where several of his mistresses reside, to settle things. There she also finds Connor Maguire, a tabloid reporter pretending to be and insurance consultant, who suspects her to be the murderer and is trying to find Charlie and Pompasse's eventual dirty secrets.
There's an attraction between Charlie and Connor from the beginning. He is the usual bad boy, decided not to get involved and she seemed actually like a nice girl despite an uncommon childhood that led her to the arms of someone 40 something years older than her and a less than healthy relationship. Unfortunately I did not find Connor as alluring as other Stuart imperfect heroes, he does get better as the book develops but he starts by being a really nasty piece of work.
Regarding the suspense of where Pompasse’s last works were and who is trying to hurt Charlie although the conclusion was a surprise I didn't feel there was enough build up to make a successful romantic suspense climax. Still, it is an entertaining read if not an exceptional one.
Grade: 3.5/5
The widow is Charlie, the ex-wife of famous French painter Aristide Pompasse who has just been found murdered. She is the executor of his will and so she must go back to his Tuscan Villa, where several of his mistresses reside, to settle things. There she also finds Connor Maguire, a tabloid reporter pretending to be and insurance consultant, who suspects her to be the murderer and is trying to find Charlie and Pompasse's eventual dirty secrets.
There's an attraction between Charlie and Connor from the beginning. He is the usual bad boy, decided not to get involved and she seemed actually like a nice girl despite an uncommon childhood that led her to the arms of someone 40 something years older than her and a less than healthy relationship. Unfortunately I did not find Connor as alluring as other Stuart imperfect heroes, he does get better as the book develops but he starts by being a really nasty piece of work.
Regarding the suspense of where Pompasse’s last works were and who is trying to hurt Charlie although the conclusion was a surprise I didn't feel there was enough build up to make a successful romantic suspense climax. Still, it is an entertaining read if not an exceptional one.
Grade: 3.5/5
February 26, 2018
The Widow belongs in the romantic suspense genre and Anne Stuart surely knows to spin stories in this genre. Most of her books are fun and entertaining to read with a broody and sexy hero, a simple and lost heroine with whole set of colorful characters. The mystery part of the story was not too hard to figure out but still the convo between Charlie n Connor was wonderfully done and tasteful. The Tuscan valley is vivid and bright in the eyes of the reader and for that alone I think Anne Stuart deserves a clap.
December 12, 2013
An ok read. Which when comparing Stuart to any other writer is like a excellent for any other writer. This tale, not one of best...the H was a poor working guy...um...no...but certainly alpha enough...the h was standard...the mystery wasn't one, pretty easy to figure out. And as with most of her contemporaries, the sex was pretty tame. But. I still got teary at the typical HEA ending cause...it's Stuart and she's the best.
October 17, 2011
Started off good, ambiance FANTASTIC. Plotline pretty predictable, though, and the "hero" is a total caveman.
September 12, 2012
I liked it, but it was average read for me, can't remember nothing to specific. And that tells a lot!
October 12, 2013
Not awful but not great either and really forgettable
June 9, 2015
I Liked the twist at the end.
April 16, 2018
Anne Stuart is my favorite romance author, but this wasn't one of her best. Completely forgettable.
January 22, 2022
3 STARS
Uhh it’s a strange story that’ll give you the heeby jeebies through the disturbing life and household of a pedophile “””great artist”””. Pompasse uses young girls as his models and muses for his world-famous paintings. One of them is Charlie who was also his wife at 17, but she escapes him several years later. Presently, Pompasse is found to be dead and Charlie must revisit his estate in Tuscany. A reporter (Maguire) disguised as an insurance consultant arrives at the scene for a potential story.
This is my second Anne Stuart novel and I’m really getting acquainted with her writing, her characters (the brooding, wicked hero!), and the Gothic-ness of it all. Here I liked the mystery but the plot is just so ugh and meh. The suspense just wasn’t there. I also liked the romance but I don’t think it gelled well with the overarching story. It also felt overlong and repetitive where it shouldn’t be thus I struggled through some filler scenes. Her saving grace is her excellent prose and witty dialogue that kept me reading all night.
Uhh it’s a strange story that’ll give you the heeby jeebies through the disturbing life and household of a pedophile “””great artist”””. Pompasse uses young girls as his models and muses for his world-famous paintings. One of them is Charlie who was also his wife at 17, but she escapes him several years later. Presently, Pompasse is found to be dead and Charlie must revisit his estate in Tuscany. A reporter (Maguire) disguised as an insurance consultant arrives at the scene for a potential story.
This is my second Anne Stuart novel and I’m really getting acquainted with her writing, her characters (the brooding, wicked hero!), and the Gothic-ness of it all. Here I liked the mystery but the plot is just so ugh and meh. The suspense just wasn’t there. I also liked the romance but I don’t think it gelled well with the overarching story. It also felt overlong and repetitive where it shouldn’t be thus I struggled through some filler scenes. Her saving grace is her excellent prose and witty dialogue that kept me reading all night.
August 15, 2020
The Widow was definitely not one of her best work. It was a good read, but not a very enjoyable one for me. I know she likes her heroines a certain way- frigid- but Charlie got on my nerves on more than one occassion. I did not feel, nor cared much for the suspense aspect of the storyline and when the sex finally took place, it was not was I expected. Overall, a mediocre try but then again, it's Anne Stuart and most of the times you can't go wrong with that.
December 27, 2022
A marathon read
I really enjoyed this book. It was a reading day, dark and dreary and a hot cuppa tea, and the day escaped me as I turn the pages of this amazing book. I love the characters I love the setting, and I am not a mystery reader, but it was such an enjoyable read, and I so appreciate the talents of this author.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a reading day, dark and dreary and a hot cuppa tea, and the day escaped me as I turn the pages of this amazing book. I love the characters I love the setting, and I am not a mystery reader, but it was such an enjoyable read, and I so appreciate the talents of this author.
December 20, 2019
It wasn't really my kinda book, however, I read it! Not a bad read a three-star.
May 25, 2020
As usual if you start to think about it it doesn't really make sense..
dnf
May 20, 2024To the bin it is.
This is just not Stuart's strongest effort. Too many things ring the same and the major twist at the end really isn't a twist because she's used it before.
This is just not Stuart's strongest effort. Too many things ring the same and the major twist at the end really isn't a twist because she's used it before.
October 21, 2007
The Widow - G+
Stuart, Anne
When French artist Aristide Pompasse, famous almost as much for his affairs as for his paintings, is found dead possibly murdered his estranged wife, the much younger Charlie Thomas, reluctantly returns to Pompasse's Tuscan villa in preparation for the funeral. Five years before, Charlie escaped from Pompasse's domineering hold to start a new life for herself in New York City, and now she is determined to seal the painful memories of her past by selling Pompasse's estate. But first Charlie will have to face Pompasse's former lovers and deal with Conner Maguire, an abrasive tabloid reporter posing as an insurance consultant. While Charlie and Connor fling insults at each other and search for Pompasse's missing paintings, they uncover some startling secrets indicating that someone may be out to harm Charlie.
Widow of Picasso-like artist returns to Italy to close estate, other mistresses, reporter.
Stuart, Anne
When French artist Aristide Pompasse, famous almost as much for his affairs as for his paintings, is found dead possibly murdered his estranged wife, the much younger Charlie Thomas, reluctantly returns to Pompasse's Tuscan villa in preparation for the funeral. Five years before, Charlie escaped from Pompasse's domineering hold to start a new life for herself in New York City, and now she is determined to seal the painful memories of her past by selling Pompasse's estate. But first Charlie will have to face Pompasse's former lovers and deal with Conner Maguire, an abrasive tabloid reporter posing as an insurance consultant. While Charlie and Connor fling insults at each other and search for Pompasse's missing paintings, they uncover some startling secrets indicating that someone may be out to harm Charlie.
Widow of Picasso-like artist returns to Italy to close estate, other mistresses, reporter.
January 3, 2014
I enjoy Anne Stuart--a little mystery, a little murder and a little romance all rolled into a good story. The heroine, Charlie, got on my nerves a bit, but I grew to like her and the relationship between her and Maguire was enjoyable as it grew. A lot of tension that they both finally give in to in the end. I liked the storyline, too. Never really saw the ending coming--I love books like that. I thought I had it figured out and then, BAM. Nope. Not even close. So I would definately recommend this book.
May 28, 2016
The overall book was good but there was a points which just didn't bode well with me.
Like the husband who is depicted as bad, evil and manipulating, but not one incident or action is revealed which will explain why or how he was all these things. We just have to take characters word for it.
Full story revolved around this and since this one point was week, the whole story was crumbling.
Now if this point was ignored, it was a good read.
Like the husband who is depicted as bad, evil and manipulating, but not one incident or action is revealed which will explain why or how he was all these things. We just have to take characters word for it.
Full story revolved around this and since this one point was week, the whole story was crumbling.
Now if this point was ignored, it was a good read.
March 19, 2009
standard issue dimestore romance
May 20, 2009
Fluff. Not particularly good, but fluff that combines art, food, and Tuscany, so I can't say I didn't enjoy it.
September 1, 2016
i think this is one of the only romance books i have ever read. i read this while on k block in ccp in fall of 2011. while on k block you read anything and this came along.
April 23, 2012
Second half is best...
Read
November 17, 2012j'ai bien aimée ce livre sur tout qu'il est un travail collectif entre mère et fille Anne Stuart et sa virginia stuart qui est aussi un écrivain et un modele pour sa fille
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews