Review: A Reliable Wife

Title:  A Reliable Wife

Author:  Robert Goolrick

Review Copy Provided by:  Algonquin via Shelf Awareness newsletter

About the Book:  Rural Wisconsin, 1909. In the bitter cold, Ralph Truitt, a successful businessman, stands alone on a train platform waiting for the woman who answered his newspaper advertisement for "a reliable wife." But when Catherine Land steps off the train from Chicago, she's not the "simple, honest woman" that Ralph is expecting. She is both complex and devious, haunted by a terrible past and motivated by greed. Her plan is simple: she will win this man's devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is that Truitt — a passionate man with his own dark secrets —has plans of his own for his new wife. Isolated on a remote estate and imprisoned by relentless snow, the story of Ralph and Catherine unfolds in unimaginable ways.

My Review:  When I saw this book in the Shelf Awareness newsletter, I was very intrigued and knew I had to read it.  It's been a while since I've read any adult fiction, and I'm so glad that this is the one I chose to read.  This book really held my attention.  I mean, every time I had to put it down, I was antsy until I could pick it up and read it again.

I fell in love with Catherine from the beginning and felt sorry for Ralph a lot of the time.  Catharine was trying to better herself by lying, and Ralph was just looking for companionship.  Neither one of them was completely honest with the other, but one thing is true, whether they knew it or not.  They were in love!  Like any good love story, there is a 3rd party trying to mess it up.

This story had a lot of twists.  I liked that.  The author did a great job of keeping some things hidden until just the right moment.  There were parts of the story that you thought you had figured out, and then, just like that, you were proven wrong, or led another way.  It really held my attention and kept me thinking.

If you haven't read this one, you should!