A RELIABLE WIFE

Winter comes early to rural Wisconsin in 1907, and its bite is already in the air when Catherine Land arrives to become the "reliable wife" whom businessman and widower Ralph Truitt has advertised for. They both have their hidden motives—Catherine wants Ralph's riches; he wants her to facilitate a reconciliation with his estranged son. The surgical precision of Robert Goolrick's language lays bare the tangled threads of love, hate, revenge, and redemption in this debut novel. Mark Feuerstein's performance is spellbinding. His crisp delivery matches the staccato rhythm of Goolrick's declarative sentences. Further, he brings each character's unique voice to life with modulated tones that convey layers of personality and emotions. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2009]