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A review by mastersal
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
1.0
The Romance Novel that Couldn’t - or Why good things don't come to people who wait…
I remember that I flipped through the first few pages of this book sometime in 2009, when the book first came out. I remember it reminded me of the movie Original Sin.
So as 2020 came to an end I decided it was finally decided to pick this up. And basically .... I should have probably waited a lot longer to read this - perhaps forever.
Upshot - I didn’t enjoy this book at all. I was expecting something compelling - perhaps even a little cheesy. Instead I got a fairly dull story which, despite the blurb, didn’t resemble the movie a lot. This book was supposed to be about desire and our obsession with it. Perhaps even something about how desire and love denied, becomes indulgence and meaningless pleasure. Or some such thing - I wouldn’t know as I was mostly bored and ready to chuck the book out of the house.
Thankfully (or not) it was short so I stuck with it! I think the premise, which sold made this book seem more plot heavy than it was, was the issue. I didn’t get the thrills or the “suspenseful and erotic” book I was promised. This was about the cold and despair and pretty stilted writing IMHO.
JThe writing did not capture me and I found the plot was thin and inconsistent. There was too direct narration from the omnipresent narrator and not enough action on the page. There were too many sentences like this:
“It was bitter cold, the air electric with all that has not happened yet. The world stops, shock still ...”
This was the first sentence of the book .... it’s felt like the Night Before Christmas song
I remember that I flipped through the first few pages of this book sometime in 2009, when the book first came out. I remember it reminded me of the movie Original Sin.
So as 2020 came to an end I decided it was finally decided to pick this up. And basically .... I should have probably waited a lot longer to read this - perhaps forever.
Upshot - I didn’t enjoy this book at all. I was expecting something compelling - perhaps even a little cheesy. Instead I got a fairly dull story which, despite the blurb, didn’t resemble the movie a lot. This book was supposed to be about desire and our obsession with it. Perhaps even something about how desire and love denied, becomes indulgence and meaningless pleasure. Or some such thing - I wouldn’t know as I was mostly bored and ready to chuck the book out of the house.
Thankfully (or not) it was short so I stuck with it! I think the premise, which sold made this book seem more plot heavy than it was, was the issue. I didn’t get the thrills or the “suspenseful and erotic” book I was promised. This was about the cold and despair and pretty stilted writing IMHO.
JThe writing did not capture me and I found the plot was thin and inconsistent. There was too direct narration from the omnipresent narrator and not enough action on the page. There were too many sentences like this:
“It was bitter cold, the air electric with all that has not happened yet. The world stops, shock still ...”
This was the first sentence of the book .... it’s felt like the Night Before Christmas song