Oh, do I love Hester Fox! I swear that her books are written just for me. The Widow of Pale Harbor is a wonderful, dark and incredibly rich mystery/thriller and supernatural novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so imaginative and detailed that the information of the world building/plot never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind.

An escapist read that would be perfect for a summer camping trip, or in September when fall is just creeping into the edges of the season.

Sophie lives in her husbands mansion in small town Maine with her companion Helen. For the last five years since her husband died she’s been a prisoner of her own making staying only on her grounds. The townspeople think she’s a witch and killed her husband and her life is isolated and lonely. When Gabriel, the new minister, moves to town there’s an instant spark between the two of them, but they both have too many secrets to take it my further. A gothic novel with spooky overtones that has a good plot and characters but it becomes too predictable, and it’s easy to figure out exactly where the story will go. Still worth a read because the author is promising, and if you haven’t read her first book, I recommend that as well.

The Widow of Pale Harbor is gothic historical fiction at its best. Set in 19th century Maine, the book winds through an intricate mystery involving a shadowy widow, murder allegations, and the quest for truth. Sophronia Carver is rumored to have murdered her husband so she shuts herself away from intrusive village life until frightening events, clues involving the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, and a duplicitous minister draw her out to expose a maniacal predator. I loved everything about this book and really couldn’t put it down. Fox’s easy writing style immediately drew me in. She develops complicated yet accessible characters and plays out the mystery from several points of view which allows the reader to keep guessing till the very end. The historical backdrop is well-researched and convincing. I would absolutely recommend this book as historical fiction, mystery, thriller or Poe-related literature.

Sophonia's husband died 4 years ago, but the townspeople still blame her for the death. She lives in the estate he left to her along with her housekeeper/friend. Sophonia is afraid to leave the grounds, let alone the house, but with the arrival of a new minister in town. all kinds of things start happening. Prior to his arrival there would be rdead ravens found on her pathwat, or a feather neailed to the door, all of w hich were quite disconcerting t o her as she felt the townspeople were doing it to scare her away. Eventually she noticed, along with Gabriel, the minister, that some of 'stunts' being done were similar to Edgar Alan Poe's stories which she published in the magazine that she owned since her spouse's death. She and Gabriel became n item as she started to venture out of her home. The book was not nearly as atmospheric as I had hoped,.

With Hester Fox’s first novel The Witch of Willow Hall, she became one of my favorite authors. From her writing, to the books atmosphere, I knew that she was someone I had to pay attention to. The Widow of Pale Harbor blew my away and captured my attention just as quickly. Fox just has a way of making her writing flow so easily, that it doesn’t feel like I’m reading a book anymore. The best books are the ones that don’t feel like books in my opinion, but feel as if I’m in the story myself and so far Fox has managed to do this yet again.

The Widow of Pale Harbor is mysterious and romantic and dark all at once. We have a small town where everyone knows everyone's business and no one likes our main character Sophronia. They all think there's something wrong with her and that she killed her husband. Some call her a witch, but sure enough she's one of the favorite stories in this town and the townsfolk make sure to tell their newest member, Gabriel all about her. Strange things keep happening all around the town and of course Sophronia is the one blamed, but it's so much darker than that. Through in a Poe copy cat and you can bet, I dived head first into this novel.

I fell in love with Sophronia and Gabriel. This book is told through both their points of view and it was definitely interesting seeing how Sophronia saw herself and the way Gabriel saw her. This book was amazing and I honestly enjoyed every single second of it.