The Bride Wore Black

by Cornell Woolrich

AMERICA'S MASTER OF SUSPENSE...FIRST IN THE DEFINITIVE SERIES OF THIS AMERICAN GENIUS

No one knew who she was, where she came from, or why she had entered their lives. All they really knew about her was that she possessed a terrifying beauty-and that each time she appeared, a man died horribly...

Genres: Mystery, Noir, Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Classics, Mystery Thriller

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Cornell Woolrich is widely regarded as the twentieth century’s finest writer of pure suspense fiction. The author of numerous classic novels and short stories (many of which were turned into classic films) such as Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Waltz Into Darkness, and I Married a Dead Man, Woolrich began his career in the 1920s writing mainstream novels that won him comparisons to F. Scott Fitzgerald. The bulk of his best-known work, however, was written in the field of crime fiction, often appearing serialized in pulp magazines or as paperback novels. Because he was prolific, he found it necessary to publish under multiple pseudonyms, including "William Irish" and "George Hopley" [...] Woolrich lived a life as dark and emotionally tortured as any of his unfortunate characters and died, alone, in a seedy Manhattan hotel room following the amputation of a gangrenous leg. Upon his death, he left a bequest of one million dollars to Columbia University, to fund a scholarship for young writers.

Source: [http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bi...]

Reviews

[Yun · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'm all set now . . . I'm young. I've got love, I've got a clear track. The rest is a cinch."

Ha, famous last words...

A series of deaths have left the police stumped. On the surface they seem unconnected, but in each case, a mysterious woman was on the scene moments before the victim meets their untimely end. No one knows who this woman is, but she's clearly seeking vengeance for a grievance of the past. And unless the police quickly solve this case, she will continue her deadly mission.

This story sucked me in immediately. It was dark and atmospheric, giving off vibes of classic film noir from back in the day, reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock. Here is this femme fatale, and she is sharp and resourceful. I can't help but cheer her on and hope that she doesn't get caught. Whenever she succeeds in pulling off a murder, I marvel at her style and efficiency, and look forward to more. It was wicked fun, and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

It did take me a little bit initially to get into the writing style. This story was originally published in the 1940s, so some of the words and sentence structures felt a bit odd and awkward at first. But it wasn't long before I warmed to it, and then I was flying through the story.

What a complete delight this turned out to be. It had me riveted from beginning to end, cheering for the killer to strike again and again (which is a new experience for me, I admit). If you're looking for a short murder mystery that's a bit off the beaten path, or you just enjoy the classic noir style, I totally recommend this gem of a tale.

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[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The lights of the city streaked off below him like the luminous spokes of a warped wheel. An indistinctly outlined, pearly moon seemed to drip down the sky, like a clot of incandescent tapioca thrown up against the night by a cosmic comic. He lit the after-the-dance, while-waiting-for-her-to-come-back cigarette. He felt good, looking down at the town that had nearly had him licked once.’I'm all set now,’ he thought. ’I'm young. I've got love. I've got a clear track. The rest is a cinch.’”

And then you are dead.



The Woman

She is elegant, sophisticated, groin tightening gorgeous, and aloof in a way that indicates that, if you are the man lucky enough to convince her that you are worthy of her affections, you will fall so hard that you will never be the same.

Of course, you might fall, or she might push you.

If you are an artist, you will want to paint her.



If you are a novelist, you will want to immortalize her with words of worship.

If you are poor, you will steal to sustain her.

If you are a businessman, you will want to own her.

The thing you don’t know is that she is metamorphosing into the woman you want her to be. She is like a butterfly fresh from the cocoon of your own mind. She is such a carefully constructed mirage that, even if you sense that she is too good to be true, you tamp down those traitorous thoughts because ultimately regardless of how jaded you are, you want the dream.

We know her name is Julie Killeen, or is it? We don’t know why she is murdering these men. They are all seemingly unconnected, and the police are baffled.



She is a thoughtful killer, very creative. She uses a number of ways to kill these men. The police, several steps behind, think that she is several different women, but they learn that a change in demeanor, a variety of wig colors, and one woman can become many versions of herself. The police are contending with one of the most dreaded species in noir fiction…the femme fatale.

I first saw Jeanne Moreau in the 1958 movie Elevator to the Gallows which also featured a Miles Davis soundtrack. I fell for Jeanne Moreau just like everyone else who watched that movie. There is just something about her eyes with those lips that just make a man think crazy thoughts.



So when I discovered that she was also in the 1968 Francois Truffaut film based on this book, I knew I had to watch it. I don’t remember anyone else in the film, which could say something about their performances, or it could be a testament to the alluring, assured performance by Miss Moreau. Truffaut follows the book faithfully, except for the ending, so you have two endings to contend with, and it will be up to you, if you do read the book and watch the movie, to decide which one you like best. I’m going with the original source, Cornell Woolrich. He is a master craftsman who can have this woman doing these terrible things, and yet the reader is on her side, even without knowing her motivation. Woolrich reveals the setups for the murders, but then the actual deed itself happens outside the frame of the book, which creates an extra layer of suspense in which the reader has to ponder and speculate. Did it work? Is she going to get away with it? Who is next?

The twist is so simple, yet so unexpected, it hit this reader like a pair of brass knuckles to the solar plexus.


The Lineup of Cornell Woolrich’s I have waiting to be read.

Woolrich wanted to be F. Scott Fitzgerald and emulated his style in his early work. Magazines who could not get FSF or afford him would buy a story from Woolrich. Fortunately, Woolrich found his true calling writing noir fiction. Many films have been made from his work, but none are more famous than Rear Window, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This is the first in a series of unconnected “BLACK” novels that he wrote. This one was followed by The Black Curtain, Black Alibi, The Black Angel, The Black Path of Fear, and Rendezvous in Black. This book is a great example of stylish noir that goes perfectly while sipping a martini cocktail with a shave of twisted lemon peel.

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[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grand Central Station. A one-way ticket to Chicago, a ploy. "The woman who had gone away forever seized her valise...exited to street level at Twenty Fifth Street...as though this was the end of the trip instead of the beginning...her valise so recently packed for a trip of fifty blocks...".

Soon to be engaged Ken Bliss confided to his friend, "it's getting so a young guy ain't safe any more living by himself. I think I'll get myself married off and get hold of some protection!" Charlie, the night doorman at Bliss's apartment, had just informed him that a blond, blue eyed looker, "just a right armful" , seemed to want to go upstairs and wait for Bliss in his apartment. "I'm pretty sure you don't know her because she didn't know you herself", said Charlie.

Engagement party of Marjorie Elliot and Ken Bliss. "A girl...in tiered, wide-spreading black, a gossamer black wimple...A dimple of ...possible derision-at the corner of her mouth". Bliss is alone...they are strangers...an accident...why did she disappear so quickly? Detective Wanger is stumped. Why would Bliss, in death, be clutching a mysterious woman's black scarf? Wanger is uncertain whether a crime was committed. The case remained unsolved.

"She was beautiful...red hair...a dark velvet wrap...like a nymph out of a seashell". Mitchell was a shiftless, slob, behind in his rent at the Helena Hotel. A crimson ticket to the Elgin Theater, a Loge seat for tonight's performance arrives. The usher was convinced that Mitchell and the mystery woman, a late arrival, were strangers. They did not greet each other. Detective Wanger would soon find a "complete lack of discoverable motive...[however both crimes] feature a woman who disappears immediately after without a trace".

A young, pretty woman, severely pinned back hair, "innocent soap and water freshness", a little storage space behind a staircase. According to Detective Wanger, "One thread by itself is not much good. Two crossed threads are that much stronger. Cross a few more together at the same place, and you're beginning to get something that'll hold weight. It's the way nets are made".

"The Bride Wore Black" by Cornell Woolrich is the first in his "black" series of novels. It is an atmospheric novel of revenge. Each murder seems distinct, reading like a short unsolved mystery replete with character descriptions of the victim and suspect, the crime, and the post mortem analysis by Detective Wanger. Bucking all obstacles from his superiors, Wanger is doggedly determined to find connections between different "modus operandi" used by a mysterious culprit. Highly recommended.

Thank you Penzler Publishers/ American Mystery Classics and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

In essence, The Bride Wore Black is the culmination of everything Cornell Woolrich had been building up to in the pulps. Here he completely abandoned his original dream of becoming the next Fitzgerald. The Bride Wore Black reaches for greatness, and nearly attains it. Anyone who has read it before, or has heard discussions about it, knows that the ending is flawed, a letdown of the wonderful journey the reader has taken. But like the film Apocalypse Now, that journey is so galvanizing we can’t stop reading despite what we know.

Though a fully fleshed-out novel, in The Bride Wore Black you can feel the influence of the pulps much more so than in his other big works. It moves at a pace reminiscent of the whiz-bang pulp story, only lengthened, and the narrative is mesmerizing. A girl works her way into the lives of several men, and then kills them as police try to connect the killings and make sense of it. Woolrich subtly creates the impression she is a tragic figure, a pretty angel avenging some dark and horrible deed the reader has yet to discover. Because of this, the reader becomes sympathetic to a murderer, sensing that once all is revealed, these men must have done something to deserve their fate. The reader is in a way almost rooting for her, eager to discover what’s behind it all, so we can feel her pain and wish for some last-second reprieve where she gets away.

It is at this point, near the finish, when Woolrich pulls the rug out from under us. Reading The Bride Wore Black after decades, I couldn’t help feeling that Woolrich began to have doubts about the long-form, at least for this particular story, and reverted to a pulp-style ending. It might have worked in a short story, but having created so much sympathy for the avenging angel over the course of the novel, it does just the opposite. It doesn’t negate how wonderful 9/10 of the book is, but it does mar the reader’s experience.

Woolrich himself felt the work had flaws, and basically rewrote it seven or eight years later, this time with a male protagonist — and a much, much darker mood — in Rendezvous in Black. The Bride Wore Black is better known today for the 1968 film adaptation by French filmmaker Truffaut, who also changed the ending. It’s much like Apocalypse Now, in that each person must decide whether the mesmerizing journey is enough to make up for the flawed ending. Probably 4.3 stars for me, so I’ll have to go with four, but the first 9/10 is so good, that I ache to rate it higher. Definitely (as all Woolrich is) well worth reading, just be forewarned that Woolrich is not everyone's cup of tea, and he may not be yours. To many, however, including myself, he is the greatest purveyor of noir in the history of fiction, and one of the finest writers of the 20th century and beyond.

[Susan (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Who Dunnit.

A mysterious woman has been killing men around town but for what reason?

The police are perplexed as none of the murders seem to be related and a few even appear to be accidents. As one savvy detective closes in, he remains stymied as to the woman’s identity and her motives.

This little book is classic noir and takes place in an era where all telephones were landlines and had the standard brrrrrriiing! ringtone. Reading this, I could imagine the black and white films with female characters wearing mid-calf dresses and the men in suits.

According to the inside cover, this was the author’s first crime novel and his future writings inspired famous movies such as The Rear Window and The Phantom Lady among others.

The paired down writing was sophisticated with some lovely not often used vocabulary.

Elegance and a murder mystery never go out of style.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here it was night again, and nothing wonderful, nothing glamorous was ever going to happen to him. Just cheapness. A cheap hotel room, a cheap man in his shirt sleeves, cheap gin, cheap regrets. He supposed he might as well call up Maybelle now as later and get it over with. He knew he was going to in the end, anyway. It was a case of Maybelle or nothing. But he knew just what she'd say, just what she'd wear, just what she'd think. Beer and liverwurst.

Be careful what you wish for! Mitchell is a middle aged slob, living in a rundown hotel, the walls of his room plastered with glamour pictures of movie stars and fashion models, impossible fantasies of a lonesome mind. When he receives an invitation to the theatre from a mysterious lady, he jumps at the chance to add a little romance in his life. But these femmes are called "fatale" for a reason: they're not good for your health!

Mitchell is neither the first nor the last man to be entrapped by this secretive black widow. The detective assigned to the case tries in vain to find the link between the murder of four complete strangers. It appears as if a woman who never met these men before is sistematically stalking them. She is a master of disguises and of improvisation, each murder done in a completely different manner, followed by a a return to anonimity.

There is a reason why so many of Woolrich novels are adapted to the silver screen. His plots are really clever and his control of the suspense is flawless, true edge of the seat anxiety. The prologue shows a young woman in mourning. Nothing is explained, we just experience her despair, her decision to leave everything behind and disappear:

- Julie, what can I say to you?
- Just 'goodbye'. What else is there to say to anyone ever - in this life?

The next chapter begins with Ken Bliss, a man getting dressed for his engagement party. He has the roving eye, and is excited to hear that a mystery woman has been asking the doorman at his apartment block about him. He want to meet her. So it begins ...

I don't think it is a big spoiler to reveal that this woman is a modern Edmond Dantes, bent on revenge against a group of men who did her wrong. Even within this classical frame of narration, Woolrich manages to surprise the reader, to keep him guessing both at the motivation and at the final outcome of the case. He dangles red herrings before the eyes of the reader with a glee that reminds me of Hitchcock. He ends on a note of bitter laughter at the irony of fate the original murder of Julie's husband on their wedding day solved by a stupid rookie cop who misdelivered the murder weapon . Detective Wanger in this novel is kin to the Scandinavian Martin Beck from "The Laughing Policeman", so aware of how big a role chance plays in a criminal investigation.

I saw the French adaptation by Francois Truffaut several times before trying the novel, and I notice now that he preferred a different ending. I'm not sure which one is better, I am inclined to choose Woolrich as the more subtle and the more faithful to the 'noir' canon. But Truffaut hit gold when he chose his leading lady. Jeanne Moreau is excellent in the role, so versatile, alluring and merciless in turn. The rest of the cast delivered indifferent performances, but I am ready to watch the movie again just for her.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to publishing 'The Bride Wore Black' in 1940, Cornell Woolrich had, from 1926 and apparently with little real success, released six 'jazz age' novels (none of which I've read). As Wikipedia tells us, a Fitzgerald-esque novel was more or less "dead in the water by the 1930s when the depression had begun to take hold." Woolrich forged ahead with a seventh, similar novel but, since it didn't sell, "he literally threw away the typescript, dumped it in a dustbin, and re-invented himself as a pulp writer."

Somewhere between 1932 and 1940, Woolrich must have had himself a good long think about what possible future he could have; how he could make his mark. In retrospect, it seems clear that, in his ambitious mind, failure was not an option and, as a writer, Woolrich was nothing if not driven.

He hit on something soon enough. Somehow he went towards the dark as the likely possibility for renown. Somehow he set his hopes on the criminal mind.

What he concocted first - 'The Bride Wore Black' - was (and is) a cunning creation, featuring one of the most complex of femmes fatales, Julie Killeen. Strangely, it ultimately becomes clear that the last thing Julie ever wanted to be was a killer. She was a woman very much in love and over the moon about becoming a bride:

One funny thing: on her way out, she gave me a peculiar smile and said, 'I find myself doing so many things these days that I've never done before.'

Things changed. In the blink of an eye. And not only did the eye not see what was really happening at the time, it was 'blinded' and sought a revenge as total as Julie's love.

For a novice, Julie seems to turn into a mastermind almost immediately. But that's where part of Woolrich's trademark style enters: a willingness - a propensity - to stretch the believable. A good deal of what makes Woolrich's work compelling is his idea that what's unbelievable isn't necessarily far-fetched. (Stephen King would embrace that as well.) Without that element, 'TBWB' just wouldn't be the stuff of noir.

'TBWB' has a decidedly methodical construction. There are 5 victims and the book is neatly divided into sections for each kill. Each time out, one of Julie's new identities is introduced to us in a prologue. We then see how each crime plays out and, finally, become privy to the ongoing frustration on the part of the detective dead-set on solving the case.

With each section, the story builds in intensity. And the final section has a couple of double-whammies as the story slides into home plate.

In 1968, Francois Truffaut made a film of the novel. It's terrible. (It even has an uncharacteristically lackluster score by composer Bernard Herrmann.) In it, Julie is given almost nothing to say; the idea supposedly being that accentuating the visuals would make the film more, um... electrifying.

It didn't. At all.

In Woolrich's capable hands, Julie has quite a bit to say - she has 5 whole different 'personalities' in full-fledged situations. Now *that's* cinematic!

[Dan Schwent · Rating 4 out of 5]

One by one, men are dying, deaths that at first seem accidental. The only link between the deaths are that each of the victims was last seen in the company of a woman. How are the men connected? Is it the work of one woman or several? And can the police stop the murders before another man ends up dead?

The Bride Wore Black is a great work of suspense. Woolrich does a good job of building the tension and maintaining an unpredicatable feel. The murders were believably done and Woolrich's writing was more than up to the task. Once the Bride's motivation was revealed, everything made sense. While I knew she'd be caught, the twist at the end still threw me for a loop. A note of caution: If your edition has a forward, DON'T READ IT! Mine had a foreward that was spoiler-laden.

One of the features I liked most was the structure. Each group of chapters started with the setup, followed by the murder, followed by the police investigation. I plan on swiping the structure sometime in the future.

If you like noir tales of revenge, this is the book for you.

Later: This is the one work of Woolrich's that I've read that has stuck with me long after I finished reading it.

Also posted at Shelf Inflicted

[Hanneke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This thriller is mentioned as being a noir thriller. I have no idea why it is classified that way. In my opinion, it was just a straightforward murder mystery in which a woman murders a group of related friends for revenge. The detective in question is a straightforward man without any unconventioinal methods or witty observations which is the least you could expect of a noir thriller detective. The novel actually bored me to death. I’ll rate it 2 stars, but I might as well have given it 1 star. Consequently, I will not try any other of Woolrich’s books. Pity, as I always love to discover another good noir thriller writer.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read a Cornell Woolrich novel before and indeed, haven’t hear of him until recently. He’s either totally passed me by for some reason or he’s not well known in the UK. The copy I read is a very generous gift from a dear friend and that cover is terrific! It’s described as a “stylish, tense thriller” and that’s exactly what it is from “the supreme master of suspense”. I’m not sure I’d go that far on the basis of one novel but it is suspenseful. The writing is very much of its time - publishing in 1940. Some parts of the writing you just have to go with the flow especially over attitudes or styles of speech as so much has changed over the eighty years or so since it originally appeared. However, some of the descriptions are utterly timeless and exceptionally vivid.

It’s an excellent revenge novel and I love the enigmatic tone the author creates via ‘the bride’ and Wanger, the police detective chasing her. It’s very dark, it’s correctly described as ‘noir’ and is rich and full of atmosphere. The conclusion of the novel is so good, a complete surprise but an absolutely classic twist.

Apparently the novel was made into a film in 1968, directed by Francois Truffaut with Jeanne Moreau as the bride. I’ll bet that’s well worth a watch.

Overall, this is one I can recommend to fans of the genre and the lovely copy is something I’ll always treasure.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute noir classic. I had not read it in years, so I was thrilled to reread this new edition with its excellent forward by Czar of Noir and creator of Noir City film festival, Eddie Mueller. The new introduction provides an excellent background on Cornell Woolrich, who as a real-life person is just about as close to the noir stereotype as you can get - crazy family history, absolutely over the top alcoholic, possibly murderous. And more. But just an absolutely gifted thriller writer. Mueller also wonders (as I often have as well) why Woolrich is not as well-known in the film noir canon as as James Cain, Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. Woolrich was more prolific, and, among others, wrote the story for the famous Hitchcock movie you will know as Rear Window. Woolrich is a great writer and one of my favorites of the era. Some find him more “pulpy” and less literary than his aforementioned contemporaries. For my money, his plots are the greatest and most twisted and degenerate. (That’s a compliment.) I mean, this dude practically invented the femme fatale.

I think I should say as little about the plot of this classic as possible, but will just emphatically say that if you love a good, compulsively readable, shocking thriller, you should read Woolrich, and this book and its quasi-sequel Rendezvous in Black (which is even better) in particular. Some have criticized the ending but it did not lessen my enjoyment of the book one bit.

Five stars for a completely escapist, thrilling, classic noir read, and another five stars also to the great Penzler Publishers for reviving this classic with such a great new introduction. I had to seek out a used copy of this book from the noir era when I first read it, but hopefully this publication will re-introduce Woolrich to a whole née generation of thriller readers.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars for the joy of reading it and the great introduction. Thanks to Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC of this noir classic!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite programmes on ITV is "Midsomer Murders", a fabulously OTT 2 hour bonanza of death and slaughter in which, normally, three or four people are murdered through being shot or stabbed (boring), being crushed under piles of falling newspapers or drinks cabinets (slightly more interesting) , poisoned by mushrooms, (hmmm different) crushed by a herd of cattle coming to milking ( now we are getting somewhere), drowned in a vat of wine ( fun way to go), drowned in a slurry pit (not such a fun way) or my two top deaths, a girl being mangled under the crushing weight of a giant cheese or a horrible sollicitor being battered to death by the onslaught of his expensive collection of classic wines being catapulted onto his body, pegged out on his lawn. (The added frisson of pleasure here is where his poor put upon wife corrects the trajectory of the catapult that her husband's murderer is using because he keeps missing with the bottles...classic)

This long paragraph is by way of saying "The bride wore black' is the fabulous grandmother of " MM ". I absolutely adored this book. It was tense and unnerving, it was sinister and scary and yet there was real wit and brilliantly observed dialogue. I have placed it on my favourite shelf though i cannot imagine ever reading it again. However this is not because it is not well written, it most certainly is, but now that i know all, the story loses part of its hold, its tension. The reasons for the murders, the full implications at the end of the novel once known alter the way i would re-read but that is not to say this first read was not an absolute delight and i would not have missed it for the world. I will definitely be recommending it to any person who enjoys a murder mystery with quirks.

The story is of a woman quite clearly on a mission of some unknown revenge and she works her way imaginatively and in a marvelously businesslike way through her task. To give you the rundown on her way of eking this revenge would be to spoil the story but suffice it to say 'M M " has nothing on Cornell Woolrich. His fund of bizarre deaths out camps Midsomer to one hundred fold. The added level of the police investigation is fascinating and exciting and you read the story with your sympathies in turmoil. For her capture or her escape....hmmm, tough one.

The pay off, the final denouement is shocking and unexpected but perfect for the story. I really loved it and it took me just a couple of evenings, in some ways it is one of those books I had wished to be longer.

[Lesle · Rating 3 out of 5]

"For to kill is the great law set by nature in the heart of existence! There is nothing more beautiful and honorable than killing!"

The killings were all different. She could be nice and not let someone else be charged but than turn around and be horrible by making the man suffer!

Detective Wanger thought maybe he was looking at it from the wrong angle, not the woman possibly causing the deaths, but what did these men have in common?

How the Bride was captured was exceptional detective work, brilliant investigating and the keen skill of his thought process. Cornell Woolrich pulled off something different!

No punishment that she could possibly receive from the courts would matter to her, the Bride in Black did not care, her debt that she promised was paid, almost.

The plot was interesting with each death becoming more sinister. The third hit me wrong. It has much more twists than I expected. The structure is outstanding. If you love thinking you have it resolved before the end, this is a must!!

Teetering between 3.5 and 4 Stars

[Carla Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

04/2012

First I was disappointed because the plot was the same - but for a gender twist - as 'Rendezvous in Black.' Then I was gripped by the amazing plotting and writing. 'Rendezvous' was even darker, more emotional, this one more fun and exciting. A woman was the villain, the one dealing out the - in Woolrich's words - "deferred-payment blood feud." Spectacular. But then, the twist at the end was poorly done and the story ended with questions hanging. It felt slapped together, not edited enough. A shame.

[Adrienne L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a snappy, speedy, old-fashioned noir told in spare prose. Sometimes the dialogue was a bit impenetrable and it was hard to work out just what was being relayed between two characters, but the economical writing is often incisive, and the story itself is compelling. Overall, a quick and enjoyable read.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She seemed to hang suspended in a void; she had lost one personality without regaining another.”

Cornell Woolrich originally tried to emulate F. Scott Fitzgerald, but failing to hit it off in that line, he soon turned to detective fiction and pulp novels, which was a lucky thing in two ways because one F. Scott Fitzgerald is more than enough by half, and secondly, Woolrich’s pulp and detective stories are often top-notch. Among these, The Bride Wore Black is probably one of the best-known, not least so because François Truffaut made it into a film in 1968.

The story is relatively simple, centring on Julie Killeen, the mysterious femme fatale who sets out to kill a group of men she holds responsible for the murder of her husband on the day of their wedding, and on detective Wanger, who desperately tries to make head or tail of a series of seemingly unconnected murders and to get a few steps ahead of his quarry in order to catch her while she is trying to strike again. Julie is a remarkable woman, as protean as Alec Guinness or Lon Chaney, but better-looking, and she has a knack for anticipating in what guise she will make the most intense impression of her prospective victim. When trying to ensnare the painter Ferguson, for instance, she studies his paintings beforehand in order to know what kind of woman is most prominent in his paintings; when lulling the dreamer Mitchell, she comes as a mysteriously exotic woman, and when worming herself into the confidence of the rather respectable and unimaginative family father Moran, she slips into the role of an efficient, yet attractive young nursery school teacher. In the course of her metamorphoses, she gradually seems to lose herself, though, which might be read as a hint that her desire for revenge is eating her slowly away, a very clever turn Woolrich gives his fascinating tale of revenge, apart from the really sobering twist at the end of the tale.

Truffaut, by the way, seems to have had a good hand at making a fine kettle of fish of the novels he turned into films, which can best be seen in his adaptation of Bradbury’s dystopia Fahrenheit 451. His movie version of The Bride Wore Black paints all the male characters in the worst light possible, e.g. by making a shallow philanderer of Bliss or by turning Moran into a moron that does not shirk from making a pass at the young schoolteacher while his wife is on her visit to her supposedly dying mother, and so you do not really feel too sorry for the men his Bride kills off. This decision might be in tune with contemporary tastes and mores in that it facilitates a feminist reading of the topic, but it also takes the edge off the entire story. In the novel itself, it turns out that Julie’s victims were actually innocent, which makes the whole affair even nastier (and probably more congenial to Woolrich himself, who was a man highly dissatisfied with life and whose health and alcohol problems might have contributed considerably to strengthening a streak of bitterness in him). At the same time, even though Woolrich does not paint Julie’s victims in colours as disagreeable as Truffaut does, his novel can still be read in a feminist way in that all these men see in Julie only what they want to see in a woman, gazing at her and reading her in the light of their own desires and longings.

The only real advantage the movie has over the novel is the fact that the inimitable Jeanne Moreau plays the eponymous Bride. I do wonder what Woolrich would have said about this film, but when it was showing, Woolrich was already so much of a recluse due to bad health – one of his legs had had to be amputated – that he did not go to its American release.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on my blog: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...

Woolrich takes a unique spin on the police procedural by segregating scenes relevant to the crime investigation and that of the victims and perpetrator to create an almost short story like act linked by reoccurring characters. The deliberate separation served to create a sense of time and space between the murderous vixen and her hunter in detective Wanger, allowing the reader to focus more so on the events at hand, rather than the overarching investigation.

'The Bride Wore Black' lacks the poetic prose of other Woolrich novels (notably 'The Night Has A Thousand Eyes') and reads more like a modern day crime novel with a touch of Woolrich trademark noir. 'The Bride Wore Black' is not formulaic nor is it comparable to other novels I've read by Cornell Woolrich. Once the story gets underway it's a case of the unknown - failure and success in equal measure. Luckily, this format worked well and was enjoyable for most of the book.

The plot was simple enough - a women, for means unknown, acquaintances herself with members of the opposite sex only to wriggle her way into their lives for but a moment before snuffing them out. Leaving nothing but a conflicting description for those who see her passing by. The murderess is not without compassion, operating to a killers code rather than blatantly murdering anyone that gets in her way. If an innocent should stumble upon her she warns them off only to return to the task at hand. Her victims are selective. I liked the mystery that surrounds the murderess, her true identity and rationale behind the killings isn't apparent throughout the course of her actions.

The ending was the only downer in 'The Bride Wore Black'. It felt a little too convenient for my liking. It did have an interesting twist at the end which I didn't see coming. That aside, everything else about this was solid. The characters, even those with a short span were given time to develop and establish context to the story while the police equation was well documented and delivered in an interesting manner. If it weren't for the almost hurried ending I would've given this 5 stars. That said, I highly recommend 'The Bride Wore Black' - 3.5 stars.

My review of 'The Night Has A Thousand Eyes' as mentioned in this review can be found on my blog here: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about a femme fatale who murders men who don't know her. A thrilling page turner!

[Linda]

I read this over 30years ago. I recognized his name on
Alan Teder's review of the book of forgotten authors.

[Abyssdancer (Hanging in there!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m giving this book a 3.5 but rounding up to 4 …

Because for the first 168 pages of this book I was enthralled … I like a good villain to root for, and The Woman - the stealthy assassin who seems to target random men - fascinated me … she is cold and ruthless in her pursuit of vigilante justice, but also compassionate enough to ensure that no one but her is charged with the crimes … however, the twists at the end of the book were poorly executed … I had to read the last two chapters repeatedly to understand what really happened, and there was no build-up to the final twist, it is just thrust upon the reader haphazardly … I also didn’t like the police slang … I know, the cop dialogue is true to its context, but it just seems corny now …

I’m just so disappointed in the ending … I really liked The Woman and how carefully she crafted her assassinations … kinda reminded me of Kill Bill sometimes … but I don’t want to spoil the ending here … this book was published in 1940, and the edition I read touted the author as “the Hitchcock of the written word” … Francois Truffaut did adapt this book into a stunning film noir, according to the introduction … what I might do is watch the film and hope that the ending culminates into a plausible and satisfying ending … one where The Woman’s motivation is clearly portrayed and her brilliance is properly celebrated …

[Anh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Định cho 5* rồi vì thích quá thích cô nàng vai chính trong cuốn sách này, một con tắc kè hoa thật sự với những màn tùy cơ ứng biến khéo léo đến không ngờ.
Cơ mà tại sao vẫn cảm thấy chưa thỏa mãn lắm với cái twist ở đoạn cuối, vả lại ngoại trừ nữ chính thì các nhân vật còn lại, nhất là anh chàng thanh tra cảnh sát tính cách hơi bị mờ nhạt, tạo cảm giác như thể nếu không phải vì may mắn thì anh ta sẽ không thể khám phá ra chân tướng nữ chính - cặp đôi này không hề có sự đối trọng trong năng lực.
Nhưng mà tóm lại, đây là một cuốn sách hay, khó có thể không đọc một lèo từ đầu đến cuối.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Dagio_maya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pubblicato nel 1940, il giallo "La sposa in nero" fu portato sugli schermi nel 1968 da Truffaut e sicuramente con migliori risultati, almeno secondo la mia opinione.

Ciò che ho trovato di buono in questa storia è l'idea di fondo:
una donna misteriosa s'insinua nella vita di cinque uomini per poi ucciderli.

C'è qualcosa nel passato di queste vittime che li ha legati?
Per quale motivo questa donna misteriosa compie gli omicidi?

Queste le domande che si fa l'ispettore Wanger ma che non mi sono fatta io.
Tutto molto lampante con un tentativo finale di far un colpo di scena affrettato dopo dialoghi imbarazzanti e personaggi inconsistenti.
Le mie figlie probabilmente direbbero: "cringe"

Per me un grande NO!


Le luci della città guizzavano rapidamente sotto di lui come i raggi luminosi di una ruota deformata. Una luna perlacea, dai contorni sfumati, pendeva dal cielo come un grumo infuocato di tapioca, lanciato contro la notte da un bello spirito cosmico. (?????)"

[Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded up.

I enjoyed this one, it kept me turning the pages, and rescued me from facing what seemed to be a reading slump.


Julie is a widow with revenge raging in her blood, and she has a desire to see a group of men dead. But why the disparate group of men she chooses to visit and do away with? Men who, on first appearance, seem to have nothing in common with one another and don't know even each other.

Julie is very adept in her mission, and manages to elude the law after each murder she commits.
Detective Lew Wanger is assigned to the case, but finds it a baffling one - who is this woman that murders all these men, and why? He's determined to find out, no matter how long it takes to do so.

This is a fine noir debut for the author ( who had previously written some Jazz Age novels before finding his true forte.) It does show its age at times, with the attitudes that some men had with the women they associated with.

While billed by many as a thriller, it's also a typical mystery novel, with the detective in the end outsmarting the femme fatale and solving the puzzle that had him frustrated for a long period of time.

Julie is one femme fatale this reader still couldn't help liking, and she never let any innocent people take the rap for her misdeeds.

[Nhi Nguyễn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dạo này công việc nhiều quá, đọc xong cuốn này từ hôm qua mà tới hôm nay mới review được. Nói chung ngắn gọn thì nếu ai thích đọc thể loại roman noir, danh tính của hung thủ đã được tiết lộ ngay từ đầu, và câu chuyện thường được kể ở điểm nhìn của hung thủ thì có lẽ sẽ hợp với cuốn này :D Những đoạn Cô dâu đen hỏi han nạn nhân nhẹ nhàng trước khi kết liễu người ta làm mình hơi ớn ớn ^^ Trước khi đọc mình có nghe nói đoạn cuối có plot twist, mà đúng là có thiệt, một cú twist nhỏ, một cú twist lớn, tha hồ mà bị bất ngờ :)))

À với lại mình hơi bị thích bìa của cuốn này :D Truyện trinh thám mà sao bìa đẹp thế không biết :)))

[☯Emily Ginder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can a mystery about a woman stalking and killing men be fun to read? Yes, in a horrific and unrealistic way. We know a woman is killing off men, being careful to not injure women and children. Some methods of murder seem impossible to pull off by a woman. The suspense is WHY? Why are these particular men being killed? What is the relationship between the men and the woman plotting their death? Detective Wanger is determined to find out why in order to stop the killings.

A delightful read while prepping for a colonscopy.

[Brian Fagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bride Wore Black was Cornell Woodrich's first crime novel, which came out in 1940, just as the film industry was getting into the noir business. Indeed, some years later, the novelette became a Truffaut film by the same name. Goodrich is said to be the highest earning crime writer ever, with an incredible dedication to his work. I assumed he was British, by the name, but he was an American.

The first chapter introduces us to an unnamed woman conspicuously leaving town on a train for Chicago, but who gets off at the next stop and finds a new place to rent. Why is she hiding, and from whom ?

There is a scene of a tape recorder being left on and then recording someone's activities. Perhaps it planted a seed in the mind of Sudden Fear's writer, for there we have a similar scenario with my favorite film femme fatale, Gloria Grahame, and her married lover, Jack Palance unwittingly divulging on tape their murder plot against his wife, Joan Crawford.

I loved Woolrich's taut style and his plot creations - very clever. I'll be reading more of him.

[paper0r0ss0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

La geometria del delitto. Splendido noir che procede implacabile, sia nel ritmo senza cedimenti, che nella gelida e disperata determinazione della protagonista principale nel dispensare la morte. Domina la figura della dark lady, affascinante e letale, seducente quanto misteriosa, deliziosa icona di un'epoca (1940) e di un genere. Quasi da 5 stelle!!!

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cornell Woolrich's The Bride Wore Black is a well-crafted noir mystery about a woman murdering four men (and attempting to murder a fifth) and leaving the police utterly stumped. For each crime, she looks totally different and doesn't leave any incriminating evidence behind. Francois Truffaut filmed this novel in 1968 starring Jeanne Moreau as the bride.

Each murder is discussed separately as the same investigator attempts to prove that all the murders were committed by a single woman. Note that the ending is surprising in several ways.

[John of Canada · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Woolrich before this. I will be reading more from him. The writing was terrific. My favourite line was; "A scattering of the dilettantes, or, as they would have preferred to be known, the cognoscenti, were drifting superciliously around, simply to have something to chatter about over their next party cocktails."