Classic review: The Reliable Wife
[This review from the Monitor's archives originally ran on Mar. 27, 2009.] On a fall day in Wisconsin, a man stands waiting for his bride. Before you get all mushy on me, let me add that they鈥檝e never met before, and she was 鈥渙rdered like a pair of boots from Chicago.鈥� The ad read: 鈥淐ountry businessman seeks reliable wife. Compelled by practical, not romantic reasons.鈥�
And the woman who鈥檚 coming on the train isn鈥檛 the woman whose picture Ralph Truitt holds in his hand.
That satisfyingly twisty opening sets the stage for A Reliable Wife, the first novel by Robert Goolrick, who previously won acclaim for his Southern memoir of growing up with an alcoholic father, 鈥淭he End of the World as We Know It.鈥� This time around, he鈥檚 headed far north for this glittering, poisoned ice cube of a tale.
Catherine Land isn鈥檛 the dowdy missionary鈥檚 daughter she claimed to be. Instead, she鈥檚 a beauty who鈥檚 hungry for money and love.
鈥淪he could not, would not live without money or love. Ralph Truitt had shyly promised in his last letter to share his life and she would take what he had to give.鈥� And what Catherine has in mind is darker than a little run of the mill gold-digging.
But Ralph isn鈥檛 the country bumpkin Catherine had imagined, either.
鈥淢aybe you thought I was a fool. You were wrong,鈥� the wealthy businessman tells her when she gets off the train. Furious with her lies, he鈥檚 nonetheless attracted to her and brings her home anyway. Before the two can have a proper conversation, Ralph is seriously injured in a carriage accident, and Catherine devotedly nurses him back to health. She can鈥檛 have him dying on her 鈥� at least, not before the wedding.
鈥淎 Reliable Wife鈥� has a little of the Gothic feel of Daphne DuMaurier鈥檚 鈥淩ebecca鈥� 鈥� complete with a dead first wife, suspicious housekeeper, and gorgeous mansion. (This one is an Italianate wonder, standing improbably in rural Wisconsin.)
However, 鈥渏olly and honest,鈥� Mrs. Larsen is no match for the implacable Mrs. Danvers, and Catherine Land hasn鈥檛 been a naive ingenue for some 20 years.
鈥淪he had so little life of her own, so little self,鈥� Catherine reflects, 鈥渢hat it was easy take on the mannerisms of another with ease and conviction.鈥�
As winter sets in, Catherine learns about Ralph鈥檚 wild youth in Europe, his marriage to an Italian noblewoman, and how he lost his first family. The tragedy some 20 years earlier has left him wary of a world that seems unrelentingly bleak. 鈥淪ome things you escape, he thought. Most things you don鈥檛, certainly not the cold.鈥�
In turn, readers learn about Catherine鈥檚 past as a courtesan, taken up to provide for a younger sister she dearly loves. Both characters are more than they initially appear, and Goolrick spins out the complications while Catherine considers whether to use the dark-blue bottle she鈥檚 got hidden in her suitcase.
In the meantime, she finds herself growing to like Ralph and finding hope in her wintry surroundings.
鈥淭he snow was eternal, infinite. Across the yard, across the roof of the barn, down to the smooth round pond at the foot of the farthest field. There was not a footprint, not a mark in the entire landscape, only the silvered and impenetrable sweep of snow. Perfection. You see, thought Catherine, sooner or later, everything gets a fresh start. It鈥檚 not just possible. It happens.鈥�
Of course, as those of us who live in northern climes know, sooner or later (usually later) all that white 鈥減erfection鈥� melts, revealing a season鈥檚 worth of trash and muck hiding underneath.
鈥淎 Reliable Wife鈥� is eminently readable and should delight fans of old-fashioned Gothic romances, but ultimately, it鈥檚 no 鈥淩ebecca.鈥� For one, the plot hinges on a big twist ... that I guessed well in advance. And the novel could have used a touch more atmospheric tension and a dollop or so less of Ralph ruminating about sex.
But Goolrick is a solid wordsmith, and he handily manages the impressive task of making readers care about a woman bent on cold-blooded murder. And generating the proper Gothic ambience in Wisconsin is no mean feat.
What鈥檚 next? 鈥�Wuthering Heights鈥� set at the Mall of America?
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.
