It's not often a main character dies in the first chapter of a literary novel, but that's what happens in Sally Koslow's The Widow Waltz. The story opens from the point of view of Ben Silver, a charming, seemingly successful Manhattan lawyer who goes for a run in Central Park and suffers a massive heart attack. His sudden death comes as a complete shock to those who love him--most especially, his devoted wife, Georgia Waltz. What's even more troubling is the news that he has left his well-to-do family practically insolvent.
His widow and their two adult daughters had been living, thanks to Ben, an upscale, privileged existence; now they face financial ruin. Ben's death might make him physically absent from the lives of his loved ones, but his presence becomes more palpable as the trio slowly begins to uncover reasons why the family's fortune might have evaporated. Was Ben the man they thought he was? Was he harboring secrets? As Georgia and the girls reinvent their lives by selling off assets and scrambling to find work to support themselves, unforeseen circumstances, people and impulses--some romantic--alter their plans in unpredictable ways.
Koslow (The Late, Lamented Molly Marx) is a skillful, meticulous writer attuned to the absurdities of life, death and the multi-generational bonds of family. Pitch-perfect details and alternating narrative voices allow her to explore fully the emotional intricacies of these richly woven characters in crisis. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines