Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of A Reliable Wife

A Reliable Wife
A Reliable Wife
Author: Robert Goolrick
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
Gr8Smokies avatar reviewed on + 98 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


A dark book completely fixed on sexual obsession. I suppose that it is a testament to the writer that none of the characters were either all bad or all good--and while I felt some sympathy for nearly all of them, I didn't like them.

The story centers around Ralph Truitt, a very wealthy man, living in frozen Wisconsin around the turn of the century. He places an ad in a newspaper that asks for a "reliable wife". What he gets is not exactly what he hoped for. What he wanted is a woman not only to be reliable, but to satisfy his aching loneliness. Ralph is not a kind man, although he does have some admirable qualities. When his new bride, Catherine, arrives, he is in for a ride. She is not at all what she appears to be.

The cover really sucked me into this book, but you know what they say about judging a book by its cover. The book left me a bit sad about the state of the world and how people treat one another.