A Reliable Wife is a beautifully written tale of three souls - ralph, catherine and antonio - linked for eternity by rage, love, greed and yes, passion. there are more than a few surprises, and goolrick does a wonderful job of presenting the barren and maddening landscape. it was interesting and painful to be inside his character's heads...which is where we spend most of the book. there's little dialogue here. it's well worth reading, the ending brought closure for me that was comforting. i just read an interview with mr. goolrick, in which he says, "I wanted to give readers, first and foremost, a good solid story and a reading experience that is as sensual as it is cerebral." i certainly think he succeeded.