The Pilot's Wife
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Anita Shreve |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
Publication date | May 1998 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 293 pp (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | 0-316-78908-9 (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 38096984 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3569.H7385 P55 1998 |
| Preceded by | Sea Glass |
The Pilot's Wife : A Novel is a 1998 novel by Anita Shreve. It is chronologically the third novel in Shreve's informal trilogy to be set in a large beach house on the New Hampshire coast that used to be a convent. It is preceded by Fortune's Rocks and Sea Glass.
The novel was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection for March 1999.
Plot summary
The novel is about Kathryn Lyons, whose husband, Jack Lyons, dies in a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Malin Head, Ireland. As she and her daughter Mattie try to cope with this sudden loss, she finds herself bombarded by the press. While she and the airlines try to find the reason for the crash, she slowly unravels a series of secrets her husband has kept from her until she realizes that he lived a double life she never knew about.
Adaptation
The novel was adapted into a made-for-TV movie in 2002 on CBS. It was directed by Robert Markowitz and stars Christine Lahti and Campbell Scott. "The Pilot's Wife" (9-11pm ET: 12.5 household rating/20 share, 17.20 million viewers), won its time period in households, viewers, adults 25-54 (5.7/13), boomers (7.0/15), women 25-54 (8.2/18) and adults 18-49 (4.3/11). An August 2004 repeat airing drew 10.173 million viewers.
Inspired Works
Many real life wives of pilots have since created networks, blogs, and support groups on the internet as way to support one another through the real life trials of being a pilots wife. "Partner of a Pilot," "The Secrets of a Pilot's Wife" and "The Pilots Wives Club" are examples.