It is told from the point-of-view of Grace Waterhouse, widow of an Australian soldier who died during World War II in a covert operation against the Japanese.

In The Age James Ley noted: "The novel does succeed in conveying an idea of heroism that is ambiguous and complex to some degree...Yet for all its endeavour, The Widow and Her Hero feels slightly laboured.

"[5] Andrew Reimer in the Sydney Morning Herald found the novel an "accomplished and highly readable book".

He continued "The Widow and Her Hero reveals a writer who has lost none of the skill and talent he has been demonstrating for decades in a seemingly unending stream of books.

In some of his more recent novels, however, Keneally has shown a tendency to rely on mechanical plots and stock characters - An Angel in Australia is a case in point, I think.