A Reliable Wife

Book Description

Critics

• A Reliable Wife

  Snowbound Wisconsin, October 1907. Ralph Truitt, whose family, wealthy for generations, has given the town its name, waits conspicuously at the railway station for the arrival of a stranger. After years of buttoned-down widowhood, Ralph has advertise ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

• A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - Review by Waterstone's Books Quarterly Online

  Those who have read or seen the film of Michael Lesy’s Wisconsin Death Trip – a chronicle of hellish poverty and crime in old rural America – will understand the random violence and atmosphere of insanity pervading A Reliable Wife. For the rest of yo ... (read full critics)

  wbqonline published on Tue, 14 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Filled with darkness, despair, rage, insanity and sex, but in the end all about hope and redemption. A disturbing but intriguing read set in early 1900's Wisconsin and St. Louis. Well written and suspenseful, this book will get you hooked. A rather surprising ending but I felt it ended well.

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  Rameycreek said on Apr 28, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  a grim hawthornian mood for a morality play with a quite foreseeable ending. sort of a jane austen for grownups - 80 years later.

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  Elsastella said on Mar 22, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  This Author Desperately Needs to See a Therapist

  Before saying anything else I will say that I did not hate this book. It was a quick read and an overall entertaining story. Now, having said that, I will not dignify the author's ridiculous attempts at literary dysfunction by describing this book as dark and disturbing, as he clearly wants the read ... (continue)

  Before saying anything else I will say that I did not hate this book. It was a quick read and an overall entertaining story. Now, having said that, I will not dignify the author's ridiculous attempts at literary dysfunction by describing this book as dark and disturbing, as he clearly wants the reader to surmise. No. A Reliable Wife is a poorly disguised attempt on the author's part to work through his daddy issues, sexual compulsion and probable opium addiction.
  Here we have a promising story: Mail order bride agrees to marry a wealthy older man with the secret motive of killing him, when in fact wealthy older man has an ulterior motive of his own outside simply not wanting to be alone in the twilight of his life. Simple enough; plenty here to create a good suspense novel. Instead, what the reader gets is 291 pages of over the top descriptions of sex acts and human insanity that honestly contribute nothing to real issues at hand. It's completely bizarre.
  Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  Suggested With: A mood for light reading and a dry spell.

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  ReadingQueen 12/17 said on Aug 10, 2010 | 1 feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Others 320 Pages
• ISBN-10: 1565129776
• ISBN-13: 9781565129771
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Pub date: Jan 26, 2010
• Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

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