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The Widows of Eastwick

A Novel

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The Widows of Eastwick

By: John Updike
Narrated by: Kate Reading
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About this listen

 More than three decades have passed since the events described in John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick. The three divorcées–Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie–have left town, remarried, and become widows. They cope with their grief and solitude as widows do: they travel the world, to such foreign lands as Canada, Egypt, and China, and renew old acquaintance. Why not, Sukie and Jane ask Alexandra, go back to Eastwick for the summer? The old Rhode Island seaside town, where they indulged in wicked mischief under the influence of the diabolical Darryl Van Horne, is still magical for them. Now Darryl is gone, and their lovers of the time have aged or died, but enchantment remains in the familiar streets and scenery of the village, where they enjoyed their lusty primes as free and empowered women. And, among the local citizenry, there are still those who remember them, and wish them ill. How they cope with the lingering traces of their evil deeds, the shocks of a mysterious counterspell, and the advancing inroads of old age, form the burden of Updike’s delightful, ominous sequel. Contemporary Fiction Fantasy Genre Fiction Horror Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire

Critic Reviews

“Ingenious . . . This isn’t writing. It is magic.”—New York Times Book Review

“With its fiery energy and wicked humor, The Widows of Eastwick is a truly enjoyable book to read [and] might just be [John Updike’s] best novel since 1990’s Pulitzer Prize—winning Rabbit at Rest.”—Kansas City Star

“Dazzling Updikean prose . . . Here’s a bet his work will keep fresh for generations, inciting laughter, wonder and sensuous shivers.”—Los Angeles Times

“An amusing romp . . . made unexpectedly moving by the author’s profundity and his renowned dexterity with language . . . [Updike is a] master of making us want to guffaw and weep in the same sentence.”—Houston Chronicle

“Elegant prose and unfailing wit . . . There is moral courage in these pages. And kindness too.”—Washington Times
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