BKMT READING GUIDES
The Widow of Wall Street: A Novel
by Randy Susan Meyers
Hardcover : 352 pages
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1 member has read this book
Phoebe recognizes fire in Jake Pierce’s belly from the moment ...
Introduction
A provocative new novel by bestselling author Randy Susan Meyers about the seemingly blind love of a wife for her husband as he conquers Wall Street, and her extraordinary, perhaps foolish, loyalty during his precipitous fall.
Phoebe recognizes fire in Jake Pierce’s belly from the moment they meet as teenagers. As he creates a financial dynasty, she trusts him without hesitation—unaware his hunger for success hides a dark talent for deception.
When Phoebe learns her husband’s triumph and vast reach rests on an elaborate Ponzi scheme her world unravels. As Jake’s crime is uncovered, the world obsesses about Phoebe. Did she know her life was fabricated by fraud? Was she his accomplice?
While Jake is trapped in the web of his deceit, Phoebe is caught in an unbearable choice. Her children refuse to see her if she remains at their father’s side, but abandoning him feels cruel and impossible.
From penthouse to prison, with tragic consequences rippling well beyond Wall Street, Randy Susan Meyers’s latest novel exposes a woman struggling to survive and then redefine her life as her world crumbles.
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1Phoebe
November 2009
Phoebe never hated her husband more than when she visited him in prison. The preceding nightmare of ordeals—eleven hours hauling a suitcase by bus, train, and cab, her muscles screaming from the weight—were the coming attractions of the misery she faced the next day. ... view entire excerpt...
Discussion Questions
1. Phoebe and her college professor Rob Gardiner embark on a whirlwind relationship while she is still dating Jake. What impact does the professor have on Phoebe’s character and some of her actions?2.Discuss the structure of the novel. What is the purpose of having chapters that alternate between Phoebe’s viewpoint and Jake’s viewpoint?
3. How does Jake view The Club?
4. In the letter to Kate, Phoebe writes, “Don’t wear your father’s sins” (pg. 257). If you were Kate, how would you react to this statement? Discuss burdens that children might carry from their parents.
5. People accuse Phoebe of being involved in her husband’s schemes. What led to Phoebe’s ignorance? Should she have known?
6. “Love and lying coexisted, she supposed” (pg. 276). Do you agree with Phoebe’s supposition? Why or why not?
7. What pushes Phoebe past the point of forgiving her husband? Are you surprised by the catalyst (s)? Should she have left her husband sooner?
8. Why do you think the author chose the title The Widow of Wall Street?
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