Set in a small Wisconsin farming and manufacturing town still crumbling a decade after the depression of the 1890s, A Reliable Wife tells the story of Ralph Truitt, a wealthy businessman who advertises for "e;a reliable wife"e; in newspapers across America. The woman he chooses, Catherine Land, describes herself as "e;a simple, honest woman,"e; but in truth she is both complex and devious-not the missionary's daughter she claims to be in her letter to Truitt but a courtesan of great beauty, kept by men and haunted by a terrible past. Catherine's plan in accepting the marriage offer 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 the passion she finds in this seemingly solid, forthright man-a man who also harbours secrets and whose own past is far from pure. Filled with remarkable characters and drenched with colour and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is a story of love and madness, longing and murder, played out in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis.
| ISBN: | 9781443400534 |
| Publication date: | 25th September 2010 |
| Author: | Goolrick, Robert |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Canada |
| Format: | Ebook (Epub) |