Book review: A Reliable Wife

I thought I'd start doing a quick review of books as I read them.

FYI, these are not going to be FUNNY so stop looking for the punch-line because it isn't coming.



A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick

This is the story of Ralph, the rich man with a past of both undeserved pain and unfortunate choices, who advertises for "A Reliable Wife." Answering his ad is Catherine, a woman who is not entirely truthful about her past or her purpose.

Smoothly written and emotionally evocative, this book is a pleasure to read. I thought the pacing was quick and the author's use of language was both precise and eloquent. The story was interesting and it felt fresh even though it is set at the turn of the century. For all it's twists, the story is simple and easy to follow. I found this to be a satisfying but undemanding read.

I hope to do this fairly consistently. Stay tuned for the moving story of "Dog" - where fluffy dog, and scruffy dog meet their match in soft dog and smooth dog.

I'm kidding. That's Owen's book. Just because I've read it 100 times doesn't mean I'm going to review it. Though if I did I would have to say that while I appreciate the attempt to create language both simple and rhythmic, the rhymes were lost when you had to stop to pull the tab that wags the dog tail for, like, an hour before you could turn the page.