A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick, is the story of how Catherine Land answers a rather pathetic sounding classified ad placed by a lonely, tormented rich man. From the beginning of her correspondence with him, Catherine is up to no good at all: she plans on slowly poisoning Ralph Truitt and having his fortune for herself.

Automatically, I expected this tale to turn into one of those beautiful, gradual love stories in which Catherine falls in love with Ralph and realizes the dream of having both love and money in her life. However, the story involves other people who make the plot more complicated, but not more interesting. In other words, I'm not raving about this book. I found the writing style to be incongruent with the time period, which was just after the turn of the century (1908), and I felt that the characters were not very fleshed out. Their past lives were told in a quick, glancing way, while the flowers Catherine loved so much were described in lush detail. There is a climatic scene near the end that seems to drag on and on, and just before the too-happy ending, the author actually beats into the reader what this story has been all about. Just in case she missed it.

One of the themes of Goolrick's book is that life in Wisconsin was harsh for most people back then, and people went mad and did insane things. This is true, but parts of this tale seemed either too unlikely or not explained well enough. Goolrick also commits repetition of information, which I found to be very annoying, besides being a detriment to the movement of the story.

I feel so weird for panning this book! It's not that Robert Goolrick is a bad writer, it's that this particular story was executed poorly. Despite its flaws, I did not have trouble finishing it, but I did wince as I did so. This is my humble opinion after hearing such good things about this book.

So don't throw tomatoes at me! ( )

I just read my review of his previous book, a memoir about sexual abuse. Apparently I thought his writing suddenly changed in the middle of the book to become searing and exquisite. I would have to say the opposite about this book, where the writing suddenly became overwrought. A rich guy at the turn of the century advertises for a wife and a woman who, it turns out, is in love with his estranged son, shows up. They have an implausible plot to kill the father/husband for his money. And that's about it. I skimmed the last half. ( )

This book had me from the very first page. One-part believable book and one-part fable-like story. When a wealthy man puts an add in the paper for a "reliable wife", you just can't help but wonder where it's going to go. ( )

Clever. Entertaining. And well written. ( )

This book came highly recommended and did not disappoint. Goolrick pulls you in to a Mid West winter (of the soul?) and you shiver even though he describes how not to. Catherine and Ralph are tragic, damaged figures who can't escape their pasts or their connections. A fantastic read. ( )

Nothing is what it seems; excellent prose from Goolrick. His characters are full and carefullly crafted. I couldn't put it down. ( )

Ralph Truitt, a wealthy middle-aged widower, employer of most of the workers in a small northern Wisconsin town just after turn of the twentieth century, advertises for "a reliable wife" and selects a plain woman from Chicago, 20 years his junior. However, the woman who gets off the train is not the same woman whose picture he received in the mail. The beautiful woman standing in front of him admits to sending a friend's picture, thinking that it would be more appealing to him than one of herself, but insists that it was she who wrote the letters. Catherine has reasons why she wanted to be admitted into this man's life. And it seems Ralph has reasons of his own, other than loneliness, for wanting a new wife.

I thought this book was a disappointment. I was expecting a very sweet romance after reading the synopsis of a well-to-do man living in a remote area advertising for a wife. This book is not sweet. It is dark, almost sinister at times. The story takes place over the course of a single winter, beginning on the day of the first snow storm in October, 1907 and ending in early spring 1908. In the meantime, we learn the story of Ralph's first marriage, and the children born to him. We learn about his own youth with his father and mother. We learn a little about Catherine, and her background. In short, we learn about all the experiences both these people have had with love - in all its myriad forms. It is a tragic tale all around. Which is the reason the book doesn't work for me - I am rarely able to appreciate tragedies. It is well-written, the sense of darkness and despair are palpable. I just didn't like it. ( )

From Publishers Weekly
Set in 1907 Wisconsin, Goolrick's fiction debut (after a memoir, The End of the World as We Know It) gets off to a slow, stylized start, but eventually generates some real suspense. When Catherine Land, who's survived a traumatic early life by using her wits and sexuality as weapons, happens on a newspaper ad from a well-to-do businessman in need of a "reliable wife," she invents a plan to benefit from his riches and his need. Her new husband, Ralph Truitt, discovers she's deceived him the moment she arrives in his remote hometown. Driven by a complex mix of emotions and simple animal attraction, he marries her anyway. After the wedding, Catherine helps Ralph search for his estranged son and, despite growing misgivings, begins to poison him with small doses of arsenic. Ralph sickens but doesn't die, and their story unfolds in ways neither they nor the reader expect. This darkly nuanced psychological tale builds to a strong and satisfying close. ( )

Page turner with many unexpected twists and turns. Dark, but an enjoyable read. ( )

This is not written like contemporary fiction. Upon finishing it I thought: "It's like D. H. Lawrence writing Ethan Frome."
Reliable Wife is a dark, cold love story set in a northern Wisconsin winter at the beginning of the 20th century. There is much lust, remorse, betrayal, and heart break....then finally, love. ( )

Starts well and goes down hill fast. Great set-up wasted. Pointless and contrived.

gave to mary Kay ( )

One of my favourites for the year. ( )

A Reliable Wife
Robert Goolrick, Algonquin Books, March 31, 2009, $23.95,HC, 291pp,978-1410417381.

Ralph Truitt and Catherine Land meet at a train station in rural Wisconsin in 1907.
Ralph’s ad for a reliable wife has brought them together. They’re both looking to make a change in their life but it may be more than just a simple marriage.
She hungers for more in life as money and social standing utmost in her sights.
She is not who she seems. She is hiding more than the precious gems sewn in her dress hem and a small blue bottle she carries. When she steps off the train, Ralph takes one look at the well worn photograph of Catherine and clearly she is not the woman he has been corresponding with. Furious at her subterfuge she will still suit his purpose. Although he feels deceived, he has plans for Catherine that with any luck will bring his wayward son home to him. Detectives do locate this lost son, now a man who plays piano in a bar. HIs name is the lascivious Tony Moretti, but on approach he denies Ralph is his father. Meanwhile, Catherine sets in motion a plan to kill her husband with arsenic from her small blue bottle. Why would she jeopardize her new charmed life style married to the rich Mr. Truitt?

The characters of Ralph and Catherine are carefully chiseled and polished. Robert Goolrick creates a clever labyrinth of deceit, guilt and forgiveness. The story is racked with tension as he slowly manipulates his readers through the twisted maze of plot complexity. Goolrick’s writing is embraceable, warm and comfortable with an occasional electric shock. Suspense is this storytellers magic.

( )

WOW! I wish I could write like this, so rhythmic and hypnotic and compelling. A DARK Lake Wobegone Days to say the least! Kills the myth of idyllic rural life. ( )

What a strange book. Mr. Truitt, a wealthy businessman in early 20th century Wisconsin, places an add for "a reliable wife." This is the story of his relationship with the woman who replies to the add, Catherine Land.

In the end, this is a book about sex. Mr. Truitt has been disturbed by what he believes is an unhealthy obsession with sex since he was a little boy. That obsession has continued into his adult life where he imagines all the sex that the townspeople are having around him while he has been humiliated by the infidelity of his beautiful Italian wife, Emilia.

There could have been something really amazing about the madness that seemed to blossom in the stark, hopeless Wisconsin winter but the theme of people's obsession with sex overtook the novel. ( )

Alright now, this was an extremely interesting book. Why? Well, I don't think I have ever read about sex so much in anything before. The sex was either happening, going to happen, had happened or was being thought about happening. I have suggested this book for our next bookclub discussion and I am wondering what the other members will be thinking. It sure will be interesting to discuss.

Poor Mr. Truit, his life was a mess. From his childhood with a horrible mother through his life to his first marriage, things just never got better for him. The tragedy of loosing his daughter and his wife leaves him in limbo for 20 years until he advertises for a reliable wife. Oh boy, and so begins phase II of his horrors???or is it more like the beginning of the end of the horrors. I'm still not sure. When he takes Ms Land as wife #2, the reliable wife has lied to him about her past of debauchery, drugs and pure madness. So it goes, a story of both their pasts coming together and catching up with both of them.

I'd have to say in the end the story holds up and it was well worth the read and I know that it will be quite a bookclub night !!! ( )

Clever, twisting plot of a woman responding to an ad for a wife, who has a plan to gain the wealth of her husband. Set in the winter of Wisconsin, where people go mad with never, ending winter. Much sex. Good and evil. 08'09 ( )

http://www.book-blog.com/2009/08/gool... ( )

Well- if a bit over-written but aside from "Vanity Fair" I've never met a less likable cast of characters and the sex is as endless and dreary as the winter snow. ( )

http://thebookwormslibrary.com/?p=551... ( )

A Reliable Wife is the story of people with terrible pasts who are grasping for second chances. The writing has a lyrical quality and the reader is able to ponder the thoughts and feelings of characters who refuse to show their true selves to anyone. The characters are awful people, who have made tremendous mistakes and must live with them. Some seek forgiveness, while others try anything to change the course of their destiny. Yet through the language the reader is kept separate from them, watching from above as they live their day-to-day lives. The plot does have some twists and turns, but there no shock and awe. You know the characters are capable of anything. Overall, an engrossing read that makes you think even after the last page is read. ( )

Well written. Troubling. Human interaction at its worst and best. She marries him to help his son(?) get revenge. Even attemps to poison him with arsenic and then realizes that she loves him. As an adult he remains a kind and loving person throughtout. She changes. ( )

Reason for Reading: The description of the book intrigued me: the time period, the small town, gothic atmosphere and I always take a second look at "mail order bride" stories from the 19th cent. and this was close enough.

Comments: Ralph Truitt, 54, is a wealthy owner of the manufacturing business that employs most of the population of a small town in Midwestern Wisconsin. A widower of twenty years he places an Ad for "a reliable wife" and after a certain amount of correspondence a ticket is sent and Catherine arrives to become his wife. Both parties have deep dark secrets and alternative reasons for embarking on this marriage of convenience. Mr. Truitt soon comes clean and spills his soul to Catherine, before the wedding, telling the tale of his past and his ultimate purpose for her to perform as his wife. Catherine, on the otherhand, keeps her own past a carefully hidden secret and goes to great lengths not to have her devious intentions become known.

This is a hard review for me to write because as I was reading the book I started off not liking it, then I would be ok with it, then I did not like it and back and forth until the ending chapters which were tense and hard to put down. Whether I liked it or not, the plot kept me reading and at no point after "Part One" did I think of putting the book down.

"Part One" had me thinking I'd made a big mistake with this book and that it was just going to be romantic drivel. I do not read pure romance books and found myself rolling my eyes and hoping something more than two people hating each other, having constant conflict, then secretly falling in love and finally admitting they love each other was going to happen. Fortunately, that was not this book and much more did happen.

The plot is intriguing; it goes places one doesn't expect. Both Catherine and Ralph are very complex characters though their personalities and actions did not leave me caring much about either of them. I had no concern as to whether either of them had a happy ending though I was intrigued as to what happened to them, if that makes sense. The greatest theme running through the book is that of Ralph who has confessed and is now accepting and living his life as penance for his past life of lust, violence and lack of family commitment. Catherine's life is similar, though she is at a different stage.

One thing that bothered me was the s*x. There was lots of it. Not graphic, but what I would call descriptive and it really wasn't that, that bothered me but the constant presence of it. If the main characters were not having s*x, they were thinking about past encounters or fantasizing about present encounters and future encounters. When not doing any of those they would imagine the s*x lives of the people they passed on the street or drive by houses and wonder what s*x took place within those buildings. Not that this was a past time they did together, it was simply something within each of them that they naturally thought about all the time when they were alone. It was really overkill for me.

As I've said, even though there are certain parts of the book that I did not like or that annoyed me, the plot is intriguing and meaningful. Characters are not likeable but are compelling. I'm glad to have read it. I would also most likely read another book by the author if the subject matter interested me. He does recommend a photographic book to read in his note at the end which I have put in an ILL request for which he based his atmosphere on in this book: the long, seemingly non-ending Wisconsin winters that seemed to drive people at the end of the nineteenth century to a certain kind of madness. ( )

My initial thoughts on this book were mixed. I didn't really know how to review it. Walking away from it I thought, what a miserable bunch of people, they deserve one another. But a few days went by and A Reliable Wife would come to my mind. By rehashing it, I have had the time to digest the moving and emotional tale that Goolrick has produced.

Ralph Truitt wants a reliable wife, so much so that he puts an ad in the paper. Catherine Land wants to be that reliable wife.
To me Ralph and Catherine are like abscesses. Underneath their exterior they are festering and spreading infection. The only way to release this pressure and heal the wound is to cut it and let it drain.

There is a painful ache you feel when Ralph describes how he has denied himself the love and companionship that a mate would bring. His desire for female companionship is loudly heard, for me sometimes too often. For Catherine becoming a wife was a way to start over, she had a plan. They both had their own demons to contend with.

Both of them came together with predetermined futures in mind. Neither one of them expected to heal the anger, guilt and feelings of solitude they shared.

This is a story about two individuals who destroy their lives and live in emotional pain, but it's also about two individuals that make a life saving choice to change.

Dark at times, but beautifully written describing the power of emotional healing between two people. ( )