Tuesday 6 July 2010

American Fiction

Finished July 4
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
I've been reading this one beside the bed for a while. The story was interesting, but I didn't find myself engaged by it. I'm discovering that if I don't like any of the characters I have a harder time connecting with a book and I think that is what happened here. It wasn't until closer to the end that I found myself really enjoying the book.
The story is set in Wisconsin in the early part of the twentieth century. Ralph Truitt, successful businessman, has advertised for a "reliable wife". He is hoping to lure his son back and for him this is a first step. He is thinking of it as a new beginning.
Catherine Land has answered the ad, and also sees this as a new beginning, but she has her own goals and plan.
Each of these characters has their own unhappy past, which we gradually discover. But what happens is unexpected for both of them and eventually gives them a new beginning they hadn't thought to look for.

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