A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (2009; Algonquin. ISBN 978-1-56512-977-1)
I picked up this slender novel at Reagan National in D.C. on my way home from a recent conference. Given that the topic of the conference was domestic violence, and this book is dripping with cruelty and violence wrought by family members against each other, I’d say it was either an odd or a fortuitous choice. But readers, including readers who write (like me) often do indeed judge a book by its cover. The cover of Reliable caught my eye. The blurbs on the back cover cemented the deal. I wasn’t disappointed.
Think Rebecca (one of my favorite suspense novels) set in the cold, desolate Wisconsin countryside of the early 20th century. Add a desperately lonely widower of means (Ralph Truitt); a vengeful, horribly abused bastard (I use the term literally); and the bastard’s sexually powerful lover (Catherine Land) to the eternal darkness of the farmlands outside Madison, and you have one creepy, compelling, driven story of love, sex, violence, and redemption.
A page turner with literary sensibilities and Victorian noir; the story, plot, setting, and characters flow together to form a beauteous evil. You reach for the rose. You are pricked by a thorn. And yet, you can’t help but reach for the rose again. 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5.
