Year in (Book) Review: A Reliable Wife

Now this is what I meant by creepy in a good way. A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick's debut novel, was recommended to me by the reliable Abigail, and she didn't let me down. (She's, well, reliable like that.)

The story revolves around a young woman, an older man, and the intertwining of their lives in ways both plotted and not so much. It's the early 1900s, it's winter -- Wisconsin-style, so, like, seriously winter -- and we know right off the bat that things, both between these two and about each of them individually, are not as they seem.

Goolrick does a wonderful job of bringing these tragically damaged characters to life, and achieving the very difficult task of making them both relatable and empathetic. As is the case with all good suspense stories, there is a melancholy undertone and a sense of foreboding that carries readers through a good chunk of the book; we're left to constantly wait for the proverbial other shoe to drop on one or both of our protagonists. It aims for equal parts harrowing and hopeful. And I think A Reliable Wife succeeds where The Fig Eater failed, by managing to be dark without the heaviness, and stylistic without being tedious. I didn't always love some of his writing choices -- there's a purposeful amount of repetition that got on my nerves every once in a while -- but the story and the characters reel you in and the language stays fluid and forward-pushing.

The twists and turns, while perhaps not entirely surprising, will keep you engaged and will shake up your idea of whom you'd most like to root for -- and against.