Usually, prisoners are respectful toward her. She wishes Daniel hadn’t needed to leave this morning, but duty had called her husband, the sheriff, to fetch another prisoner from the farthest corner of Bronwyn County. The prisoner jumps back, giving Lily grim satisfaction. Lily starts sweeping again, harder now, so dust and debris skitter past the tidy pile she’s made in the empty cell and into the occupied one. “Hey, lady, gimme more coffee afore you keel over!” Lily has yet to share the news of this child with anyone other than Daniel. At twenty-six, carrying a child is harder than when you’re young! That’s what Mama would say-if she knew. Queasiness has found her early this time around. She steadies herself with the broom and swallows, fighting back a wave of nausea.

Lily gasps, forgetting her list of spring-cleaning chores. Besides readying this cell, she needs to turn the garden soil, beat the rugs, and clean the sooty glass shade of the hanging coal-oil lamp in the dining room. There’s so much to do on this fine March day. Lily sweeps the jail cell for the next prisoner, set to arrive in a few hours.

Inspired by the true story of Ohio’s first female sheriff, this is a powerful debut about two women’s search for justice as they take on the corruption at the heart of their community. Marvena Whitcomb, a coal miner’s widow, is unaware that Daniel has died, and begs to speak with him about her missing daughter.įrom miles away but worlds apart, Lily and Marvena’s lives collide as they realize that Daniel was not the man that either of them believed him to be―and that his murder is far more complex than either of them could have imagined. Hours after his funeral, a stranger appears at her door. Kinship, Ohio, 1924: When Lily Ross learns that her husband, Daniel Ross, the town’s widely respected sheriff, is killed while transporting a prisoner, she is devastated and vows to avenge his death.

Inspired by the true story of Ohio’s first female sheriff, The Widows by Jess Montgomery is a powerful debut about two women’s search for justice as they take on the corruption at the heart of their community.

The widows jess montgomery