A review by maddyd51
The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers

3.0

{Many thanks to the publisher for sending me an eARC of The Widow of Wall Street free of charge.}

If you remember the story of the Madoff ponzi scheme, then you know the plot of The Widow of Wall Street. It has only a few deviations from the story and is told from the perspective of Phoebe, who married Jake Pierce at 18, before he began the scheme that devastated so many.

I'm a little torn on this one. Reading it prompted me down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia and newspaper articles about Bernie Madoff, his inner circle, and the fallout of what is likely the worst financial scam ever perpetrated. I even listened to the Ponzi Supernova podcast on Amazon Channels (which was great, by the way).

But I'm torn because while reading this novel, I found myself skimming ahead past yet another internal monologue saying the same thing the last five internal monologues said: he couldn't fix it ad the pressure was killing him. It became repetitive.

I also wasn't very interested in Jake's perspective. I feel like there is tons out there about the scam and how it happened. I would have enjoyed a novel entirely from his wife's point of view. I also would have loved the focus to be on the aftermath, rather than the downfall, of the House of Madoff. In any event, this was a good read, especially for those who love the drama surrounding this true life story.