From the Bookshelf of Bookmarks Subscribers …
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
showing 1 of 1 topics
view all »
Other topics mentioning this book
What book did you just start?
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
last updated Feb 27, 2024 08:11PM
What Members Thought
I read this novel in one day, my first novel of 2010, and I could not put it down. It is the type of novel that gets under your skin and is difficult to shake for several days. It was a unique story, the characters were extremely compelling, and the atmosphere was very dark and Gothic. If this novel was ever made into a movie, I would expect it to be set in perpetual snow and gray fog.
Other reviewers here have set forth the main story here so I won't reiiterate it. I agree with those who said t ...more
Other reviewers here have set forth the main story here so I won't reiiterate it. I agree with those who said t ...more
Note- Contains spoilers. Found the writing to be mostly good; a little repetitive in places. I liked the story and the idea that people can change, also still contemplating the ideas about what happens to passion as people age and change or don't change. The reason I didn't like the book more is that the idea that Truitt would allow himself to be poisoned is completely implausible, that Catherine would allow him to get SO sick and THEN decide to stop poisoning him-- I just can't buy that. I also
...more
Ralph wanted a reliable wife and Catherine wanted money and love. This is a dark tale of hidden secrets and the lengths people will go to get what they want. Set in snowbound rural Wisconsin and the seedy streets of St. Louis, the reader is introduced to a world of depravity and licentiousness. This book was like a train wreck that I couldn't help watching out of pure morbidity.
The plot was suspenseful, but I found the characters to be morally corrupt and not really redeemable. Ralph was a tiny ...more
The plot was suspenseful, but I found the characters to be morally corrupt and not really redeemable. Ralph was a tiny ...more
Good for people who like to read about the era of trains and horse drawn carriages. The end was not what I thought it was going to be, and the twist that comes about half way through makes it one you want to keep reading to see how it ends.
I do not like this book very much. The characters are not very sympathetic - not people I am very interested in spending time with. Also, it is kind of slow. Lastly, I am listening to it on my iPod and for the second time I find the narrator to be almost to aggravating to listen to.
In the end I really did not enjoy this novel> There was a lot of atmosphere, but the characters did not come alive for me and the plot was uninteresting.
In the end I really did not enjoy this novel> There was a lot of atmosphere, but the characters did not come alive for me and the plot was uninteresting.
I mostly hated this book. I didn't like the characters. And I don't always have to like the characters to like the book. But this book . . . it was base human nature on so many levels. But I did care enough about the plot to finish it. It was mainly sick, sick sex, destructive thoughts and destructive sex. I skimmed through some of those passages because they came from mentally ill minds and it was too hard to get through it. For me, it was too raunchy and too raw. Depressing that people exist w
...more
Hated it. It read like a Harlequin Romance. Open this book to any page and read it out loud. See what I mean?
This book was a bit twisted..but in a very good way. Some of the things I just didn't see coming til they were right in front of my face. This book was just shocking...again, in a very good way.
...more
A great read about a woman who answers an ad for a lonely man seeking a wife in 1907. The plot, with many twists and turns kept me hooked as you weren't ever really sure which character was betraying and taking advantage of the others. Definitely recommended!
...more
Meh...It just didn't do it for me. I had no problem with the sexual content of the book, I just wasn't enamored with the story. Goolrick's writing was fine... as I said before, it was interesting the way it all unfolded.
...more
Jun 26, 2009
Gabby
marked it as to-read
Jul 04, 2009
Betsy
marked it as to-read
Aug 14, 2009
Nancy Motto
added it
Jan 23, 2010
Karen
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
my-favorites-2009-2010
Feb 10, 2010
Anne
marked it as to-read
Feb 16, 2010
Belinda Burkhart
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2010
Bronwyn
marked it as to-read
Aug 23, 2011
Loreena
marked it as to-read
