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mel_st 's review for:
A Reliable Wife
by Robert Goolrick
The year is 1907 and a wealthy widower Ralph Truitt places an ad in the paper for a "reliable wife". Catherine Land responds and arrives with the intention of marrying him and slowly poisoning him with arsenic. I must admit I was totally drawn into this novel. The meandering prose is a fitting accompaniment to the rather depressing setting and self-indulgent musings of the characters. All three main characters are seriously flawed to the point that you wonder whether they are broken past the point of redemption. While realistically the plot couldn't end in anything but tragedy the author did leave the at least some of the characters with hope for the future which I was happy about. I can't describe it as an enjoyable read but it is one that will stay with me.