A Reliable Wife

Robert Goolrick

Jan 2010 · Sold by Algonquin Books

About this ebook

Rural Wisconsin, 1909. In the bitter cold, Ralph Truitt, a successful businessman, stands alone on a train platform waiting for the woman who answered his newspaper advertisement for "a reliable wife." But when Catherine Land steps off the train from Chicago, she's not the "simple, honest woman" that Ralph is expecting. She is both complex and devious, haunted by a terrible past and motivated by greed. Her plan is simple: she will win this man's devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is that Truitt — a passionate man with his own dark secrets —has plans of his own for his new wife. Isolated on a remote estate and imprisoned by relentless snow, the story of Ralph and Catherine unfolds in unimaginable ways.

With echoes of Wuthering Heights and Rebecca, Robert Goolrick's intoxicating debut novel delivers a classic tale of suspenseful seduction, set in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis.

Ratings and reviews

The title and summary hooked me, but the writing was disappointing. Too much description and the same description at that. I actually had to double check my bookmarks at several different times to make sure I didn't already read certain parts twice. I didn't, it was just that the narration was so similar and repetitive it felt like I had. Also, by the end of the book all the characters were unlikable without any redeeming qualities that I actually looked forward to the end of the book!

I saw a movie a while back loosely based on this book, and while I found the movie to be lacking, I oh you I would love the book. I usually prefer the book to the movie. Unfortunately, that was not the case. There were parts of this book I loved, and then there were places that just dragged. Unfortunately the slow parts outnumbered the interesting parts. I hope you like it better than I did

Dont waste ypur money.The whole thing was kind of murky to read. It's a book about not much that you feel like you are slogging through to get to the end.

About the author

In addition to his most recent novel, The Fall of Princes, Robert Goolrick is the author of three other books: The End of the World as We Know It, a memoir; his first novel, A Reliable Wife, with sales of more than 1 million copies; and his second novel, Heading Out to Wonderful. He lives in Virginia.