For The Widow Tree, Nicole Lundrigan steps away from her usual locale (the East Coast) and sets the story in 1950's post-war Yugoslavia. The finding of a long lost stash of Roman coins by three childhood friends precipitates the unraveling of relationships as they argue over what to do with the new found wealth. Nevena insists they should be turned over as they rightfully belong to the country. Janos wants to keep them. And Dorjan walks the line between the two. The decision to conceal their discovery turns disastrous when Janos disappears. Dorjan and Nevena are left to question everything they believed to be true, while the mother of the missing boy, a widow named Gitta, slowly unravels. Has Janos used the money to escape the home that stifles him? Or has something much more sinister taken place? The Widow Tree is a compelling, richly layered story of fatal plans and silent betrayals in a tightly knit village, where the post-war air is simultaneously flush with hope and weighted with suspicion.
Amidst an intricate web of cultural tensions, government control, family bonds, and past mistakes, the truth behind many closely guarded secrets is revealed--with life-altering consequences.