Review: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
Your verdict:
/rating_on.gif "1 Star")
/rating_off.gif "4 Stars")
(5 votes, average: 3.20 out of 5)
Loading ...| Title: | A Reliable Wife |
|---|---|
| Author: | Goolrick, Robert |
| Publisher: | Algonquin Books |
| Pages: | 320 |
Abandoning her worldly life, traveling to a remote Wisconsin town in the dead of winter, trusting her future to a man she had never met – such was Catherine Land’s new beginning. But there was an ending in sight as well, an ending that would redeem the treachery ahead, justify the sacrifice, and allow her to start over yet again. That was her plan.” “For Ralph Truitt, the wealthy businessman who had advertised for “a reliable wife,” this was also to be a new beginning. Years of solitude, denial, and remorse would be erased, and Catherine Land, whoever she might be, would be the vessel of his desires, the keeper of his secrets, the means to recover what was lost. That was his plan.” Set just after the turn of the twentieth century, A Reliable Wife is the story of these two people, each plagued by a heart filled with anger and guilt, each with a destiny in mind. But neither anticipates what develops between them – the pent-up longings that Catherine discovers in this enigmatic man and the depth of her own emotional response; the joy Ralph experiences in giving Catherine the luxuries she has never known, his growing need for her, and a desire that he thought was long buried.
Every once in a while a book comes along. You start to read it and realize that the synopsis doesn’t exactly convey what you think you will find in the pages. You read on feeling a tad bit disappointed until the moment of epiphany when you realize it is more than you could ever have hoped it would be. That your illusions and forethought’s on the book are nothing compared to the actual book itself.
A Reliable Wife is a darkly woven tale of murder, grief, the most horrible things that we as humans do to each other on a daily basis and how that affects our world in small ways. I want to read this book all over again just to feel what Catherine, Ralph, and Antonio must have felt. I want to live in this book.
If you ever choose to read one book that I have reviewed on my blog, then please let it be this one. Goolrick is a modern master. He depicted the time he wrote in perfectly. His characters though flawed in their own right were written with perfection. The side characters had stories so bitter and amazing that even the smallest in this book moves you to feel.
Goolrick is pure genius and you will be overwhelmed with the amount of debauchery these people commit upon each other. Ralph Truitt is an amazing man and I wanted so badly for him to be real so that I could walk up to him, shake his hand and thank him for allowing me to read the most delicate secrets of his life.
If you haven’t read the book do it. If you have please tell me what you think as I am dying to talk about this book!
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By: heidenkind
But is there romance? ;)
This sounds like something Henry James would write.
By: Katy
I’m quite tempted by this one. I think I’ll put it on my wishlist. :)
By: Bookfool, aka Nancy
I read this one last year and kind of hated it. :) But, I thought Goolrick’s writing was excellent. I just didn’t like being in the minds of such twisted people. A lot of people love it and think it’s really romantic; I didn’t feel that way at all.
By: Pam
@heidenkind I think there is romance but it is in a twisted way. Very dark.
@Katy You should try to grab it from your library.
@Nancy I know what you mean. Like I said at first I felt like I didn’t get what I paid for so to say from reading the synopsis. I was in the mood for something really dark and this was so twisted. I loved it.
By: Becky at One Literature Nut
There is kind of a sense of something more in each of the reviews and synopsis I’ve read. I’m really intrigued. I don’t know when I could get to it, but I have to put it on my list. Thanks! :)
By: Meghan
You’ve just made me very happy that I bought this last week! It’s definitely just moved up my TBR pile.
By: Pam
Please link me to your review when you post it Meghan. I am interested to see what you think about it.
By: softdrink
Just testing…
By: Rebecca
I have this one on my TBR shelf but haven’t gotten to it yet. Sounds really good. Great review, Pam!
By: Rick
This is one of the finest bits of writing I have read in a long time. Goolrick is a wordsmith that has developed these characters in such a way that I found it is virtually impossible to put this book down. In the beginning I disliked every one of the main characters in this book, however as they efforted to overcome the profound holes in their soles, the result of tramatic childhood events, I found my heart softening to all of them, even the ones that could not find a way out of the darkness. I believe this is a must read.
By: Scarlett @ Best Romance Stories
Pam:
I really liked this book as well. I was surprised at how deeply this book “pulled me in”. It’s a unique and very dark romance that draws you in after several pages.
By: Elisabeth~Babbette
Hey, Pam – Found you via 20 questions!
I’ve been carrying this one around with me from one trip to another wanting to make the time to read it. Everything I read, including your post, says it may be a new favorite! Thanks for sharing & I’m glad to have found your blog!